Super Smash Brothers: Unleashed!
by Saint Mana
Summary: Another tournament is being held, and many contestants have arrived! Glorious battles, powerful warriors, and bumbling fools await inside! Many will fight, few will win, and many will find themselves on the recieving end my mockery! Action and Humor await
1. Early Arrivals

Super Smash Brothers: Unleashed!

Mario sat comfortably in front of his meal, with a heavy decision on his hands. A decision of such a magnitude, it would affect the rest of life with undeniable certainty…

_Should I eat the Red 'Shroom, or the Green 'Shroom..., _he pondered. _The Red 'Shroom, so tasty… The Green 'Shroom, so energizing… What-a shall I do?_

As Mario agonized over this life changing choice, Luigi burst through the door. In his haste, Luigi crashed right into the table, ruining Mario's Mushrooms. Mario stared in horror as he realized what had happened to his precious banquet. As Luigi began to speak, Mario exploded.

"Luigi, look at-a what you have done? My 'Shrooms, they are ruined! I think you will be hearing from mister hammer very soon!"

"But-a Mario, I have-a terrible news!" Luigi responded.

"I swear-a Luigi, if Peach has gotten kidnapped again…" he said with a long and weary sigh. "You save her Luigi!"

Eventually, Luigi was able to explain that they were summoned to a tournament. A tournament of epic proportions, or so Luigi claimed. After Mario and Luigi ate something to fill their stomachs, mushrooms of course, they hopped down the nearest pipe and off to the tournament.

Bowser grinned widely as he strut around the entrance to the tournament grounds. He flexed his massive reptilian muscles and breathed the occasional fire ball as the looked at all the smaller creatures around him.

_Ahahaha! They are all so tiny! I will crush them with one hand, then barbeque them with the other! Ahaha! This tournament's in the bag, I'll be home before lunch!_

As Bowser continued to feed his ego, he noticed a green pipe protrude from the ground about fifty feet from him. He looked with a worrying eye at who jumped out.

_The Mario Brothers? They were called here too? Oh crap I'm boned! They beat me every time, I got no chance! Wait, I better not let them see me worried. Yes, Gahaha! Maybe I can scare them away, Ahahah!_

As Bowser started off to intimidate the brothers, he slowed his pace a little as the Mario started to argue.

"Luigi, what-a the hell? I thought I told you to clean-a the pipe! Now look at-a what we are covered in!" Mario yelled accusingly, as he indicated to the steaming piles of brown matter adorning his overalls.

"But Mario, I did clean-a the pipe! It's not-a my fault that Wario used the pipe just before we did!" retaliated Luigi, pointing at a rather smug looking Wario about a hundred feet away.

As the Marios continued to argue over who was supposed to have cleaned the pipe, and whose fault it is that Wario used the pipe, Bowser strut his way over to them. He let out a menacing roar as he stared down at the down filthy plumbers.

_Okay Bowser, its show time! Put on your game face, flex your muscles, and glare like you have never glared before! The Marios will never know what hit them, gahaha!_

"Well if it isn't the Mario Brothers, I see you managed to get here in once piece, and you brought some stinky new friends with you! Hahaha!" Bowser mocked arrogantly.

_Heh, smooth old boy! They will be in tears after that one! Man, I am so bad. Ahahaha! Still, I better get out of here before they get mad…_

"Lucky for you, I have decided to wait until the tournament before I crush you steaming plumbers! That is if you actually make it to the final round to fight me!" taunted Bowser loudly as he slowly backed away from the plumbers, "Still, maybe you'll get luck and people will smell you before the match, then just give up! Gahaha!"

After guffawing his final guffaw, Bowser dashed away towards the front gates. As he ran, Bowser distinctly heard Mario ask what kind of 'Shrooms he had been smoking, and where he could get some.

Link had watched with amusement at the large turtle beast threatening the rather rank-smelling plumbers. He guessed there must have been a humorous story behind the arrival of the two pipe-riding contestants. As he wondered this, he couldn't help but recall the events leading to his arrival…

It was a beautiful day in Hyrule Field, and Link had just slain some annoying Moblins that had dared threaten his cool. Link was the coolest in the land, and everyone knew it, and if they didn't know it, he _made_ them know it. Link stroked his fine blonde hair, as he looked at himself in the reflection of the stream.

_Man, I am so fine. Nobody is as fine as me. Heh, those Moblins, they only wish they were this fine. Dude, I am _so_ fine…_

As he continued to admire his own beauty, Navi whipped a rock at his head.

"Navi, what the hell? You nearly scraped my luscious and creamy skin!" Link yelled.

"Oh, get over yourself Link! You are not _that _hot!" Navi said wearily, as though they had gone through this many times before.

"LIES! How dare you insult my peerless beauty! I'm fine and you know it!" Link responded with a slight edge to his voice, as if he had been genuinely wounded by the remark.

"Whatever you say long-ears, you just keep telling yourself that. Anyway, check out that this letter I found in your mailbox. It says 'Link of Hyrule, you are invited to attend a grand tournament! The winner will receive cash beyond their wildest dreams! Please attend, we await your arrival.' Well Link, how about it?"

"Ehh… I think I would rather make my own clothing line…" Link said dreamily.

Navi looked as if she were about to rip Link apart, but then her eyes got a mischievous shin to them, and she smiled.

"Hey Link look, someone prettier than you!" Navi said hurriedly to Link, as she pointed behind him.

"Where? WHERE?" Link demanded in fury, "Wait a minute Navi, there's no one–"

Before Link could finish that thought, Navi shoved Link into a nearby hole in the ground, which transported both her and Link to the tournament grounds.

"You could have taken it a little easier on me Navi; you nearly messed up my hair." Link said remorsefully.

"Whatever you say pretty-boy, at least I got us here! Now you can win me that money, and we can just _pay_ Ganondorf to return Zelda."

Link just ignored the blue fairy as a commotion was starting across the grounds, as another challenger arrived.

Samus emerged from her gunship slowly and analyzed her surroundings with the Scan Visor. She was sure to take in as much detail about the area and its inhabitants as possible.

_Planetary stability: nominal. Atmospheric conditions: breathable. Toxicity level in local flora and fauna: low. Structural stability of nearby construct: acceptable. All environmental variables appear to be within safe parameters. Life forms are extremely varied; they appear to have absolutely no genetic relationship between each other. Many posses either natural or artificial weapons or defenses, some posses both. Analysis of surroundings complete, the results indicate there is no immediate danger present. In the event of any possible dangers, I am adequately equipped to handle the situation._

With the analysis complete, Samus placed a security lock on her ship, and began to walk to grounds. She stopped occasionally to perform a detailed analysis of a plant of person. As she surveyed a rather unusual species of carnivorous plant that had taken up residence in a green cylinder, scans indicated it was called a 'pipe', a rather confused looking primate approached her. The large and hairy ape gaped and her and drooled, as if waiting for something. As Samus analyzed the primitive beast, it appeared to attempt communication.

"Mmmm… Banana…" it said crudely as it scratched it's oddly shaped cranium.

Samus considered responding to the ape's feeble attempts at communications, but before she was given a chance, it spoke again.

"Banana..." it spoke longingly, as it gazed at her.

_Banana, _Samus thought, _a yellow fruit grown in tropical regions of Sol III, it is high in potassium and enjoyed by species such as monkeys, and apes. Why does it assume me a banana?_

As she pondered this, she noticed that the ape gazed not at her, but at the tree behind her. The tree apparently bears the fruit known as 'Banana'. Samus stepped aside and watched with interest as the ape assaulted the tree with its face in hopes to attain some of the desired fruit. Fearing that the ape may wound itself, Samus took a few steps back and fired a missile at the tree. Its trunk blew apart and the top of the tree, bananas included, fell not far from the ape. The ape let out a cry of shock and happiness as it jumped on the felled tree and began consuming bananas at an alarming rate. Samus walked away from the ape and headed over to observe a small terrestrial craft that had just arrived.

Captain Falcon leaped out of his racer and flexed, knowing that people would be watching him. People were always watching him, and he grinned at the thought. As he posed for the undoubtedly awed people, a person clad in a bionic suit approached his racer and began to look at it.

"Like it? It's called Blue Falcon, I built it myself" he boasted proudly, and flexed for good measure.

The bionic person ignored him and continued analyzing his craft. He thought he heard the sound of a woman's laughter coming from within the suit.

_A chick? _He thought happily, _I love chicks! I bet she is so impressed by my awesome racer and my glorious bod that she can't help but giggle. Ah, yes, I do have that effect on women. This awesomely toned bod of mine is known to cause riots…_

"Hey girl," he said deeply, "If you like that you should check out my fabulously toned bod! I know you are intimidated, but don't worry, all girls are. After all, I am _the _Captain Falcon!"

As he went on glorifying himself, the woman in the bionic suit walked away still chuckling from amusement.

_A chick resisted me? ME? How did this happen? I-I can't believe what just happened. How could she resist my fabulously defined muscles? Oh, my poor muscles. How hurt they must be…_

"Heh, don't worry boys!" he said compassionately to his muscles, "We don't need her! Now, who wants a date with the tanning oil?"

Captain Falcon flexed his muscles and acted like they were responding to him. As he continued to amuse himself, an official sounding voice could be heard booming from inside the stadium.

"Honored contestants," It sound with too much enthusiasm, "Please enter the stadium now, and we will begin preparations for the main event!"

The many contestants gathered around the gates, began to slowly pile in to the stadium. As a number of contestants were still arriving, one particularly large koopa could be seen hurling people out of his way so he could get through the gates first.


	2. Obsession and Offenses

Prince Marth stood, or rather posed, by a large pillar inside the stadium's outer walls. He adjusted his hair and tiara and hoped to catch people's eyes. When he realized no one was paying attention to him, he started pouting.

_This will work! Nobody can resist me pouting like this. Hey! Everybody, look at me! I said look at me! WHY WON'T YOU LOOK AT ME! Alas, to be ignored in a manner such as this! Surely a prince deserves more…_

As he was wallowing in his own self pity, Marth looked up to see a rather gorgeous person stroll through the gates. Marth gazed at the vision of loveliness and began to swoon.

"So… fine…" mumbled Marth, as he began to drool.

_Ah, but drooling does not befit a Prince of my caliber. I must speak to my beloved!_

Marth strolled up to the beauty with the blond hair, and started flirting. He twirled his cape around and ran his fingers through his hair slowly.

"Wow! That is a beautiful sword!" flirts Marth loudly, "Where did you get it?"

"Err… I jacked it from a temple…" said the blond beauty hesitantly.

"You know what is even more beautiful than the sword?" said Marth batting his eyelashes, "Hehe, your fine figure of course! Your so… Wow!"

"Why thanks! I do try, Haha!" said the blond happily.

"You know, I–" began Marth before he was interrupted by a squeaky female voice.

"Link quit flirting and get to the fighting! I want my damn cash!" screamed a tiny blue fairy, which was buzzing around the blonds head.

_So, his name is Link! Well, isn't that a sexy name! Hehe, I can't wait to get my hands on him. Hehe, yes Link my beauty, you will be mine! Surely he has noticed my brilliant outfit, complete with my stunning tiara!_

As Marth was entertaining fantasies in his mind, Link had dashed over the sign up booth. Marth bounced after Link with a grin on his face. He knew Link wanted him, whether Link knew it or not! As Marth approached Link from behind, he heard him talking to the noisy fairy.

"Jacked it from a temple?" demanded the fairy loudly, "You are the Hero of Time! Chosen to wield the sword and cleanse Hyrule from darkness! You did not _jack_ it!"

_Oh my gosh! He's a hero? I love him even more! Oh yes, his sweet and luscious self will be mine! Now, to get him to notice me…_

"I'm saying Navi, the Temple never even knew what hit it!" insisted Link, "I slew dozens, no wait, hundreds of monsters to get the boss of that temple! And after a long, and magnificent battle starring your truly, I finally took the behemoth down. It was a magnificent battle, and to the victor goes the spoils! Stained with the blood of my gargantuan foe, I grabbed that sword, and I became a legend!"

_Wow… He is so brave… I bet he is really strong too… To have beaten all those monsters and not been hurt! He is a god! He even beat a massive boss single handedly! _

"Link, you ass, that is the Master Sword. You found it in the Temple of Time. The worst thing that happened there is when you shot your foot with the slingshot!" raged Navi, as she fluttered madly around Link's head.

_Stupid fairy… Link deserves better. Anyway, time to get me a hero! Heh heh…_

As Link continued to insist that he had killed hundreds, no wait _thousands_, of monsters in the temple, Marth jumped him from behind and threw his hands over his eyes.

"Yaaaahhh!" screamed Link, "It's Zelda, she found out about that time I took her picture in the shower!"

"Oh Link honey, guess whooo" sang Marth happily.

"Calm down Link. It's just that creepy guy from before." said Navi wearily.

As Marth climbed down off of Link's back, he began to feel his muscles. Marth got a wide grin on his face as hugged Link's arm. Link, however, was deeply disturbed. He started flailing wildly to shake the clingy guy off his arms.

"Dude, I know I'm pretty. Very pretty. Very, very pretty. Okay, let's get real, I'm even prettier than Zelda! Still man, I really don't swing that way, if you get my meaning." Link explained thoughtfully, "I mean I know how looking at me probably makes you think that you are in love. I have that effect on people; after all, I am that pretty."

"You know I'm a Prince, right Link?" whimpered Marth as he stared sadly up in to Link's eyes. "I'm very, very, very rich…"

This caught Navi's attention. She flew around madly humming wedding tunes as she thought of all the things she was going to get.

"Wow, you guys look good together! You know Link, maybe this guy isn't so bad, I mean he is a prince after all." Navi said, with an evil grin.

"Navi, I'm hot. Not gay." Said Link horrified.

Marth grinned, he would get his man. He always does. As he continued to fawn over Link, hoping that the green-clad hero would propose to him, Marth realized that he also had to sign up for the tournament. Marth managed to tear himself away from Link long enough to sign himself up for the matches, leaving him plenty of kisses, much to Link's dismay. When Marth had finished signing up however, he noticed that Link had disappeared and gone off somewhere.

_Nooooo! My precious hero! Where have you gone? Why did you leave me? Waaaahhhh… Ah, but a prince should not be crying like this! I'll find you Link, wait for me!_

Marth started to dash around frantically searching Link, more than once he ran screaming into a group of contestants. In one group, he heard a man in overalls wondering what kind of 'Shrooms he was smoking, and where he could get some.

Roy wandered around the Stadium's massive lobby, while swinging his sword around recklessly. Swinging away as he was, he did not even notice when he nearly lopped an ear off a rather intense looking man. The man was dressed in brown and black leather garb, and was sporting rust-red hair, and a decently sized sword.

"Hey, watch it kid! Get out of here before I kill you."

"Whoa, sorry man, I wasn't paying attention. We cool?" responded Roy heartily.

"Cool? We are not _cool_ you little urchin. Get out of my presence!" the man demanded angrily.

"Dude, I said I was sorry, so let's drop it, yeah?" Roy said breezily.

"The great Ganondorf drops nothing! Heh, I see you have a sword, I say you use it. Come at me if you can brat." Ganondorf thundered challengingly, he swung his sword in a massive arc to emphasize his point.

"Old man, were not supposed to fight outside of the matches, it's against the rules." Roy argued calmly as he rested his hands on his hips.

"So you are a coward then? Heh, such a thing is to be expected," taunted Ganondorf, as he laughed deeply, "You are only a child after all."

At this point, Roy ripped his sword from its sheath and rushed Ganondorf head-on. He swung he blade in vertical arc, as he aimed for Ganondorf's head. Roy's blade crashed into the stone, sending rubble in various directions, as Ganondorf sidestepped the blow. Roy cursed under his breath as he withdrew into a defensive stance and watched as Ganondorf hefted his impressive blade. The sword itself was a long as one of his long legs, and was tinted brown and purple. As Ganondorf swung his sword down on upon Roy's own blade, purple energy sparked from the sword. Thinking he had the upper hand, Ganondorf laughed mightily as he drove all his strength into crushing the young boy's stance. Roy however, grinned and stepped forward pulling his sword with him. Ganondorf's strength and weight caused him to move forward in to Roy's oncoming attack, his eyes went wide when he realized what was happened. As Roy's blade connected with Ganondorf's chest it exploded into vicious flame and threw Ganondorf back thirty feet into a stone pillar, which shattered under the force of the impact. Ganondorf roared in anger, as he jumped up from the rubble and rushed at Roy full force. Just as he closed in on Roy's position, an explosive shockwave forced both he and Roy to their knees, and then down to their stomachs.

A furious and loud booming voice erupted from the space surrounding the two combatants. "How _dare _you make light of the rules we have set down! You will both be sent to confinement and have your armaments removed until the time of your scheduled fights. Away with you both! GUARDS, ESCORT THEM!"

Ganondorf and Roy were captured and forcibly removed from the stadium's lobby, by what was apparently some sort of police force. They were humanoid wire-framed beings of immense power and agility. The way they moved reeked of combat experience, and mastery. It almost seemed as if they were designed to be the perfect fighters.

The other contestants in the lobby looked on with fear and anticipation as the wireframes carried off the two trouble makers. Many contestants were without words, they had just seen a taste of the fights to come, and they were eager to begin.


	3. Dairy and Dinosaurs

Young Link beamed around the lobby, and took a long swig of milk. He adjusted his tunic, and ruffled his hair as walked happily towards a group of contestants.

_I can't wait to start the tournament! Too bad my match isn't for a while, oh well, I'll just explore until then. It's too bad we can't spar with each other before the matches; I could use a little warm up! Oh well, I'll just talk to these guys over here._

As Young Link approached the group of fighters, someone grabbed his tunic from behind. The slender had pulled him back and spun him around, then planted swift kiss on his cheek. Young Link found Princess Zelda staring him in the face, although she was much older than he remembered her.

"Link, Hehe I can't believe your tiny again! You're so cute! Oh! Let's go buy ice cream! You want some, huh?" she said in loud high pitch squeals, all while poking and hugging poor Young Link.

"Waaahh! Hyaaa! Whoa? Hut! Hyeeeaaaa!" screamed Young Link.

"Awww, you still can't talk? That's okay; it's not your fault. Come on, I'll buy you ice cream!" Zelda said as she grabbed his arm and dragged him to the nearest vendor.

_Arrrggh! I still can't talk? Why? Why must my vocal cords be so underdeveloped! Now I have no choice but to follow this Zelda around and choke down ice cream. I hate ice cream. No! I won't have it! I'm getting out of here!_

Young Link broke free of Zelda's grip and raced towards the opposite end of the lobby. Yet out of nowhere, Zelda appeared in front of him. Young Link fell back in surprise.

_What? When did she learn that? Oh well, I get still get away!_

As he sprang to his feet, Young Link grabbed a Bombchu from his pack and set it at Zelda. He ran towards a group of Wireframes as he yelled randomly. The Wireframes noticed Zelda chasing him and seized her immediately.

"You will not engage in unauthorized combat. You will be disarmed and detained until the time of your match has arrived. Please come with us." said the first of the Wireframes.

As the Wireframe grabbed Zelda, she yelled loudly and teleported thirty feet away. When she reappeared, she began running again, this time away from the Wireframe.

"Desist at once, you will be detained." It said without emotion, as it took off after her at an alarming speed.

Young Link breathed a sigh of relief as Zelda ran screaming away from the Wireframe. As he took a long swig of milk, Young Link smiled and turned to thank the two remaining Wireframes. Yet as he tried, the nearest one turned to face him and said. "Fear not little human, you are out of danger, please proceed to your waiting room."

As Young Link walked off to his waiting room, the Wireframe stopped him and added, "Would you like some ice cream, little human?"

"Waaahhh! Wha. Hya. Hyeeeaaaahhhh!" young Link yelled incoherently as he ran towards the waiting rooms.

Luigi inspected his newly cleaned clothes with a wide grin and adjusted his hat for good measure. As he cast a look over at Mario he said happily, "You see Mario, Its-a no problem about the pipe! We are all-a clean now!"

Mario casts him a dirty look and said wearily, "Luigi, you-a stooge! We have to go-a home through that-a pipe you know?"

As he thought about that carefully, he responded, "Maybe it-a will be clean by then, yes?"

Mario simply groaned and started walking, "I think I need-a some 'Shrooms…" he muttered.

As the two plumbers arrived in their assigned waiting room, Luigi looked brightly around the room to see who else was there. In various places around the room, he noticed a rather composed young man with blue hair, and an impressive sword, a large purple dragon-type creature, Donkey Kong, and a large male Wireframe that was standing near the door.

Hey Mario," said Luigi eagerly, "Its-a Donkey Kong! Look!"

Mario snapped attention and located DK's position. He then slowly walked over to the large ape. Luigi looked on eagerly expecting a fight. As Mario approached Donkey Kong, he said slowly, "DK, my-a brother, have-a you got any 'Shrooms?"

Luigi fell over from shock. _Really, how many-a 'Shrooms do you need in-a one day? _He thought irritably.

Donkey Kong slowly looked up and mumbled, "Oooohhh… Banana…"

"Ah, forget it! Why do I even-a bother with you?" shouted Mario angrily as he stalked back over to Luigi.

Just as Luigi was about to say something witty about how many 'Shrooms a day it took to keep sanity away, the grand voice spoke to announce the first fights. According to the voice, the first match was between Mario and Yoshi, and it would begin in 90 seconds.

_This should-a be fun, _thought Luigi happily as Mario picked himself up and walked out of the door that led to the arena.

Mario trudged into the arena with his hands in his pockets. The crowd was cheering wildly, as he and Yoshi arrived. As Mario approached the battlefield, he noticed that it was a green field of grass, with outcroppings strewn about. Mario jumped up onto one of the rocks and sat patiently waiting for the match to begin. He cast a glance over at Yoshi, who was busy waving to the crowd.

_This-a will be cake. I raised that-a guy from an egg, I know all-a his moves._

As Mario began to grin smugly, a loud voice boomed over the stadium, "We will now commence the first match. Super Mario, from the Mushroom Kingdom, versus, Yoshi, from the Mushroom Kingdom! The match will take place on the Green Field stage. Fighters, COMMENCE!"

Mario immediately sprang to his feet jumped ten feet into the air, at the peak of his jump, he launched a series of five fireballs at a bewildered looking Yoshi. Mario landed his jump on another outcropping of rock and threw another series three of fireballs at Yoshi. Caught off guard, Yoshi got hit full force by the first five fireballs, and scarcely managed to dodge the last three. By time Yoshi had recovered from the flaming assault, Mario was already dashing towards him. Yoshi managed to duck to his left, just as Mario pulled a hammer from somewhere and smashed it into the large rock next to Yoshi's head. Mario cried his patented 'Wahoo!' as he jumped kicked Yoshi in the face. The crowd roared loudly as Yoshi was being completely overwhelmed, the poor dinosaur took hit after as Mario continued his assault. As Mario backed off to launch some more fireballs, Yoshi managed to regain his footing and prepare for the incoming fire attack.

Mario had launched four fire balls, followed by a look of satisfaction. The fireballs flew towards Yoshi's head, and at the last moment, Yoshi opened his mouth wide and grabbed the fireballs with his tongue, and swallowed them. Mario looked confused; he didn't recall Yoshi being able to do that. Yoshi smiled widely as he slowly began to change from green, to red. Mario stopped in his tracks, he remember this power. His transformation complete, Yoshi breathed a large column of fire into the air, then turned his gaze upon Mario. Mario ran.

Yoshi ran full speed after Mario. Mario was fast, Yoshi was faster. As Yoshi caught up to the fleeing plumber, he expelled an impressive column of fire that hit Mario in the behind. Mario's eyes went wide, as he realized what happened. Mario began to run screaming, while clutching his flaming behind. Yoshi laughed as Mario eventually resorted to dragging his behind along the ground to put out the fire. As Mario got to his feet, he threw Yoshi a look of rage. Mario grabbed his hammer again and gripped it tightly. With a look of vengeance in his eyes Mario rushed Yoshi, evading the constant streams of fire by using the large outcroppings of rock for cover. As soon as Yoshi stopped to inhale, Mario leaped out from behind a spire-like boulder and hurled his hammer at Yoshi's face. When he saw the hammer, Yoshi panicked and breathed a rather lackluster stream of fire at the hammer. He was out of breath. Mario took this opportunity to launch a machine-gun fast series of fireballs at Yoshi. While Yoshi worked to dodge them, Mario rushed him head-on and landed a full-power smash attack right in Yoshi's face. Yoshi rocketed several dozen feet backwards into a decently sized boulder. The force of the blow shattered the boulder into fragments of its former self. Mario watched without emotion as Yoshi tried in vain to climb to his feet. After a minute of struggling, Yoshi collapsed and returned to his natural green colour. As some Wireframes came to carry Yoshi off the field in a stretcher, the announcer's voice erupted over the stadium, "This game's winner is: Super Mario!"

Mario slowly walked out of the arena and back into the waiting room. With a confident grin on his face, he tossed a fireball up and down in one hand, as he said, "Whose-a next?"


	4. Of Fire and Fury

Ganondorf shifted uncomfortably in his cell. He pondered the events that led to his imprisonment. The red haired youth, and his maddening counterattack…

_Madness! Such explosive power in a mere boy! One does not simply defeat the king of evil! Still, such power… I should have been the victor! Yet those wireframes had to step in. The wireframes… What were they? Their power, it defies reason! Effortlessly they dragged myself and the boy away. I resisted with all my strength, and yet they didn't so much as budge! The boy was no slouch either. Hmm… There is something very wrong with those Wireframes…_

As Ganondorf continued to mull over the wireframes and the red-haired youth, the door to his cell was thrown open. When he looked over, he saw two Wireframes walk in the doorway, one of which was carrying his sword. At the thought of his sword in the hands of another, Ganondorf rushed the Wireframe with a bellow of rage. He leaped into the air and launched a kick at the Wireframes head. The Wireframe however, did not even flinch as he grabbed Ganondorf's foot, inches before it connected, and hurled the furious Ganondorf out of the cell. Ganondorf sailed through the air at cell across from him. Saying that Ganondorf impacted the cell would be an understatement. He didn't so much 'impact' the cell, as he did reduce the entire front and back walls of the cell into a mess of steel and stone. Ganondorf swore as he rose to his feet, yet as he stood he found the Wireframe holding his sword inches from his face. Ganondorf took a step back, looking confused as the Wireframe threw the sword at his feet. The Wireframe looked Ganondorf straight in the eye and said "You appear to enjoy having yourself thrown through solid objects. However, any further acts such as this will warrant your disqualification. Your match approaches; we will escort you to your waiting room."

_Did that thing just make a joke?_ '_Enjoy having yourself thrown through solid objects', how dare he mock me! I should kill him where he stands! Yet, their abnormal power proves problematic. Furthermore, I've no desire to be disqualified. Their demise will have to wait…_

Ganondorf picked up his sword from the floor, and began to walk furiously down the hall. As he reached the door at the end of the hall, the Wireframe called to him, "The waiting rooms are this way."

_Damn him… _Ganondorf seethed.

Bowser strut confidently around the waiting room and looked menacingly at the other occupants. They consisted of a tall person in some sort of bionic suit, a small pink sphere that seemed to be constructed from some sort of chewing gum, a blond-haired guy dressed in green, a small, blue, shadowy figure of similar size to pink sphere, and a person shrouded in a massive black suit of armor. Bowser let out a deafening roar for good measure.

_Hahaha, these contestants are nothing! Two of them are only as tall as my knee! That pansy with the sword is obviously a pushover, and the person in the suit has done nothing but look at everyone. Gahaha, I am so going to win! However, the man in the back armor looks a bit tough... No matter, he looks so slow I doubt he can even move! This tournament is in the bag. May as well wrap up the trophy right now, and send my on my way! I've got princesses to steal, and plumbers beat! Hahaha!_

As he continued to stroke his ego, Bowser noticed that the small pink sphere had approached him. As he glared down at the pink thing he said "What do you want child, I'm busy?"

The pink sphere though, simply stared at Bowser. Not wanting to deal with the little guy, Bowser kicked him hard with his right leg. To Bowser's surprise, he realized that the little thing had the entire lower half of Bowers leg in his mouth. Bowser stared for a second then began hopping around madly, flailing his leg in an attempt to get the little thing off. Bowser screamed a high-pitched girlish scream as the little blob managed to get Bowser's entire right leg in his mouth. The pink sphere didn't even change its shape, it was as if it had a black hole for a stomach. Lucky for Bowser, the small blue guy stepped in. The blue guy pulled out a sword, and slashed the pink sphere across the back. The pink guy spat out Bowser's leg and bounced across the floor. Looking at the pink sphere, the mysterious blue guy said "Restrain yourself Kirby; there will be time for that later."

Kirby grinned widely and wandered off to go suck on a large shield. The blue guy got a look of exasperation as he turned to Bowser and said "I apologize sir, the little one does not know how to control himself. At any rate, my name is Metaknight. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Bowser looked down at Metaknight menacingly, and he let a bit of fire escape from between his teeth as he opened his mouth. When Metaknight seemed un-phased, Bowser spoke "Yeah, thanks for that. I mean I could have handled it myself, but thanks anyway. I didn't scream like a girl or anything! Ehehehee… Anyway… I am Bowser. Yes, _the _Bowser! Hahaha!"

Metaknight stared blankly at Bowser, oblivious to Bowser's enormous ego. Bowser eventually stopped laughing long enough for Metaknight to wish him luck in the matches. As Bowser reassured himself that he didn't need a shred of luck, he remembered Mario's victory over Yoshi and got a little nervous.

_Meddlesome plumber! _Bowser thought nervously, _Ah well, no matter! All I have to do is offer him 'Shrooms and I will defeat him! Hahaha! I should have done that years ago! It is brilliant!_

Bowser burst out laughing. The other contestants in the waiting rooms gave Bowser assorted looks of exhaustion. Bowser's laughter ended abruptly as the great voice announced the next match. According to the voice, the next match would feature Link and Captain Falcon.

Link strode out into the arena, glad to leave the noisy turtle beast behind. Link stroked his illustrious hair as the crowd erupted into applause as he walked onto the field. Link stood on the field and posed for the crowd as Captain Falcon walked onto the other side of the field. Link looked in disgust as Captain Falcon appeared talk to his muscles. Link made some crack about how disgustingly vain it was, thus causing Navi to slap him upside the head. As Link and Falcon continued to work the crowd, the voice spoke again. "We will now commence the second match. Link of Hyrule, versus, Captain Falcon! The match will take place on the Magma Pool stage. Fighters, COMMENCE!"

Link watched as the empty arena field began to change. Upon completion, Link gaped at the field that stood before him. The field was a large pool of magma, with various rocky platforms sticking out. The platforms varied in size, height, and stability. Link noticed Falcon looking at the field with an equal sense of dread.

_Hey, I survived the Fire Temple, I can survive this!_

With new confidence, Link leaped onto the biggest platform in the pool of magma, and drew his bow. Falcon leaped at Link, only to find an arrow in his chest. Link jumped out of the way as Falcon landed inches away from the edge of the platform. Falcon ripped the arrow out of his beloved body and rushed Link. With Falcon running at him with staggering speed, Link had just enough time to draw the Master Sword roll to his right. Leaping to his feet, Link swung his sword in a wide horizontal slash, catching Falcon in the chest. Falcon gritted his teeth and clenched his fist tightly. Link barely had enough time to pull up his shield before Falcon's fist connected in a massive flurry of fire. Link was thrown sixty feet across the field, and spiraled down wildly towards the massive pool of liquid fire. Inches from the bubbling inferno, Link managed to fire off his Hookshot. The Hookshot connected, pulling him safely onto a small platform. Link breathed from exhaustion, the heat was beginning to take its toll, and Falcon was already heading towards him again. Link pushed the intense heat from his mind and gripped the Master Sword tightly. As Falcon taunted him from a platform about twelve feet below, Link leaped fearlessly into the air and pointed his sword down at Falcon. Falcon laughed loudly as Link landed five feet from him, plunging his sword in deep at the center of the platform. Link however, grinned and leaped off the platform, using the Hookshot to pull him safely onto another rocky plateau. A tremor shook the platform on which Flacon stood, and a sudden realization hit him. Link had missed on purpose. Falcon scrambled franticly to get himself to safety as the platform crumbled beneath his feet. Yet every time he attempted to flee, one of Link's arrows sailed past his face, preventing his escape. Falcon yelled in horror as he fell towards the scorching pool of magma. Falcon managed to utter two words before he plunged into the fiery hell. Link pondered the words his opponent had spoke before hit the magma.

_What does 'Blue Falcon' mean? Oh well, he is not coming back anymo- _

Before Link could finish that thought, some sort of craft came crashing into the arena, and into the magma. Link watched in wonder as Captain Falcon emerged from the magma, severely wounded, on top of the speedy craft. Falcon glared at Link as he managed to drag himself into the craft. Speechless, Link stared at the craft and its wounded pilot, as the craft suddenly rocketed at him with maddening speed. Link was hit full in the chest as the craft continued to rocket around the field, with him stuck to the front of it. Eventually, Link managed to pull himself from the front of the craft. Link fell helplessly onto the large center platform. As Falcon continued to race around the arena, Link pulled himself to his feet and gripped his sword tightly in his left hand. Link felt his forehead. There was a large gash, and it was gushing blood over his right eye and then down the right side of this face. Link yelled furiously as the Blue Falcon came speeding at him dead on. Link painfully took a stepped to his right, and lifted up his sword. As the racer flew past, Link ripped his sword through the side of the craft, causing it to fly screaming into a tall platform some ways behind Link. The racer exploded in a massive storm of fire and shrapnel. As shrapnel blew past Link, Captain Falcon crashed onto the platform beside him. At this point, Link was in no mood for mercy. He screamed wildly as he raised the Master Sword high, and plunged it towards Falcon's face. Before the sword connected however, a group of wireframes appeared and pulled Falcon to safety. Link stalked off the field in a cloud of rage as Captain Falcon was rushed out on a stretcher. Just as he left the arena, Link heard the great voice proclaim "This game's winner is: Link!"

As he stepped back into the waiting room, the other contestants could hear Link muttering about how Falcon had desecrated his glorious face.


	5. The Princess and the Pokemon

Zelda giggled happily as she sat in the waiting room. So many fine men and cute things just waiting to be stalked, surely this was heaven. Zelda cast a look at the child Link, as he took a long drink of milk. She toyed with the idea of going over to him and cuddling him. Unfortunately, the restraining order set down by the wireframes was still in effect.

_Stupid wireframes, _she thought angrily, _I should be allowed to hug anything I want. I am a princess after all. Oh well, I still have the rest of these fine specimens to ogle._

She cast a glance at the other people in the room. There was a simply magnificent man dressed like a prince, he was stroking his blue hair and looking into a mirror. Also there was a gorgeous hunk of a man, also with blue hair. He was clad in heavy armor and rested a massive axe on his shoulder. This man was talking to a rather lordly looking man with red hair. Finally, there was a yellow rat thing sitting on a table, it had an adorable tail shaped like a lightning bolt. Zelda grinned and strolled over to the yellow mouse-like creature. She grabbed its tail and began stroking it against her cheek.

_So soft… Hehe… I wonder how much longer I can do this..._

The yellow creature got an annoyed look on its face then screamed. Zelda suddenly found herself surrounded by ten thousand volts. As the electricity dissipated, Zelda twitched spasmodically on the floor. The yellow creature jumped on her face for good measure, as if to say 'owned'.

As Zelda managed to pull herself to her feet, the great voice boomed itself across the stadium. Apparently the next match would feature herself and something called a 'Pikachu'.

_What the hell's a Pikachu? It sounds ridiculous; I bet it is some demented looking clunker. Hehe… Yeah, this is going to be easy man!_

Zelda's upbeat attitude quickly fell away as she noticed the electrically inclined mouse heading into the arena. Coincidence? No way, surely someone, somewhere, hates her. Zelda trudged out into the arena, that Pikachu thing has got the volts to conquer, and she couldn't help thinking that she had already pissed it off.

As she arrived onto the arena, she noticed the crowd going crazy for Pikachu. Nobody seemed to be even paying attention to her.

_Stupid freaking cute mouse… It's so cute! I want it! Still, people should be paying attention to me!_

As she wallowed in misery, the voice spoke yet again "We will now commence the third match. Princess Zelda of Hyrule, versus, Pikachu! The match will take place on the Blue Forest stage. Fighters, COMMENCE!"

As it finished speaking, the stage suddenly erupted with blue trees of several varieties. Zelda stood gaping at the trees. There were blue, you simply don't have blue trees! The trees in Hyrule were green, man, that is a normal colour for trees! As she began to convince herself that the trees were actually pink, a far cuter colour according to her, a massive bolt of lightning ripped through the air and hit her in the face.

_Ahhhh! My face! It could be ruined! What man would want me now?_

As if on cue, Zelda caught a glimpse of some obese Goron winking at her. The very thought of it made her insides quiver. She vowed that the Pikachu would pay. Sealing her vow with a nod of her head, she dashed into the field of blue trees. Zelda ran towards Pikachu and threw a small orb of fire at it. Pikachu jumped out of the way, but as it landed Zelda was standing behind it. Zelda smiled innocently as she raised a blue crystal barrier around her, and launched a series of crystal shards at Pikachu. Pikachu screamed in pain and horror as the shards ripped into it. Zelda broke off her attack, and wondered if she overdid it a bit. She soon found out as Pikachu glared at her as it charged electrical energy within its body. Zelda began to slowly back, but her retreat was broken as Pikachu generated a small cloud of thunder around the two of them. When the lightning discharged from within the cloud, Zelda felt her heart stop. As the lightning raged around the two of them, Pikachu regained energy, and Zelda's lifeless body fell to the ground. Pikachu, seeing victory, dissipated the thundercloud, and looked at the Zelda's body lying still and the ground. The crowd fell silent as they began to comprehend what had happened. The onlookers began to murmur softly, but those murmurs turned into cries of excitement as Zelda's eyes flew open and her body began to twitch. She jumped to her feet and began screaming. Pikachu stared in confusion at the scene that lay before it. The crowd also, shared that confusion. Zelda's screams turned into coherent phrases as the seconds ticked by.

"No! Back off, I don't need your help!" she screamed as she clutched her head tightly, "Aaaaugh! No, not now! Stay out of this Shiek!"

Zelda's screams abruptly ended as a cloud of smoke encircled her. As the smoke slowly dissipated, a dark figure clad in bandages and ninja garb could be seen standing where Zelda had once been. The _kunoichi_ surveyed the surroundings, and then Pikachu in front of her. She grimaced, and in a voice thick with secrecy, she spoke "This rodent is what has defeated you Zelda? How pathetic. I abhor your weakness girl; you are a blemish upon my skill. You, creature, weep now, as your death will shortly follow."

Shiek blew past Pikachu in the blink of an eye, and before it knew what had hit it, Pikachu was riddled with knives. As Pikachu attempted to counter with a bolt of electricity, Shiek vanished in a puff of smoke. Pikachu shook off the knives and sprinted through the trees trying to find the stealthy ninja, yet its search was in vain, as it Shiek who made the next move. Sailing through the air from branch to branch and tree to tree, she assaulted the small creature with an unending hail of knives. As Pikachu attempted to flee, two more knives appeared from the leafy canopy and nailed its forelegs to the ground. Pikachu screeched in agony as the knives pierced its legs. Shiek however, could be heard laughing darkly from the leaves above. Unable to move, Pikachu discharged bolt after bolt into the trees above, hoping to hit its brutal opponent. In a rush of smoke, Shiek appeared behind Pikachu and gave it a savage kick to the head. Pikachu was hit with such force, that it was torn from the ground and thrown through four trees before it came to a stop. Shiek strolled over to Pikachu and looked down on it. It was bleeding profusely, the red substance gushed from numerous major wounds and pooled on the ground around it. Shiek grinned with a murderous look in her eyes, she was not going to let this creature live. Pikachu though, was not done with yet. It managed to pull a small candy from inside its blood soaked fur, and stuck it in its mouth. Pikachu began to glow with a white light, and its form began to change. Shiek jumped back and into a defensive position, in case of danger. Pikachu's form ceased shifting, and the light began to fade. Pikachu was no more, in its place stood a slightly larger creature, still similarly shaped, but with a whip-like tail. It had evolved into Raichu. The wounds it had received were slightly healed, but Raichu was still severely wounded. Shiek looked with caution as electricity began to course through her opponent's body with alarming concentration. Raichu staggered forward a few steps, and then began to create a massive thundercloud. The cloud had filled almost the entire arena. The crowd could be heard admiring the cloud. Their admiration was short lived. Once the massive cumulonimbus had reached its full size, it began discharge a huge amount of gargantuan lightning bolts. The bolts ripped the arena apart. The audience yelled in fear as they scrambled to evacuate. The thunder was deafening, and chaos was maddening. Shiek leaped from branch to branch, as the trees were obliterated. Scarcely dodging the torrents of lightning, she dashed back towards the out of control creature. Raichu stood at the epicenter of the thunderhead as if in a trance. Its eyes were blank, and its body shook with power. Shiek grimaced as a stray bolt tore through her left arm, but she did not reduce her pace. As she neared Raichu, she threw a quick barrage of knives into Raichu. Then, Shiek fled. The knives drew the every bolt of lighting in the arena towards Raichu. When the bolts hit, Raichu got a look of pure ecstasy in his eyes, but the look quickly turned foul. It was too much; its body could not handle that much power. Shiek watched from the edge of the field as the thundercloud compressed into Raichu and exploded. The explosion was immeasurably fierce, Shiek barely managed to take cover from the onslaught. As the explosion faded, and the arena grew quiet, and the mighty voice spoke again "This game's winner is: Shiek!"

The dust cleared, and Shiek could see a massive black crater where Raichu had once stood. Did the rat still live? Shiek doubted it, yet some wireframes appeared nonetheless and headed into the blackened scar. She never bothered to see if they emerged with a body or not, she simply headed back to the waiting room, dreading when Zelda's mind would once again take her over.

Samus surveyed her surroundings with awe. The arena was a derelict; there were black scars and gorges everywhere. The crowd's bleachers were, for the most part, in ruins. There was rubble strewn about like dust, and to top it all off, a massive chunk of the southeastern section of the wall was gone. Administration had announced that all matches were to be put on hiatus, as the arena is being rebuilt. To compensate for this though, contestants were allowed to spar with each other in the fields outside to stadium, in order to kill time. Samus had opted to survey the arena before heading out to observe the sparring.

_Damage is extensive, but reparable. Time necessary to rebuild by hand: 0.437 cycles. Time necessary to rebuild with local technology: 0.266 cycles. Structural integrity questionable; reconstruction reasonably dangerous. _

Samus finished her analysis and headed out the Sparring Fields, as the contestants came to call the area given for sparring.

Marth strolled merrily around the fields, searching for his beloved Link. Surely he was around somewhere.

_Oh, my sweet and courageous hero, where for art thou? Hehe, he'll be happy to see me, I know he will. No one can resist my magnificent princely charms! Oh yes, the man will weep from joy at the mere sight of me!_

When Marth located him, Link did indeed weep, though not from joy. Navi however, was pleased to see Marth. She talked to him for ages about how she demanded at least four rooms in his palace, after Link and he got married. At this, Link seemed to try and murder the fairy, but surely he was so overcome with joy, that he accidentally hurt her. Or so Marth convinced himself anyway. As Marth fawned over Link, he grinned widely. Link however, drew his sword and challenged Marth to a sparring match.

"Oh but I could never fight you, my beloved hero!" Marth said lavishly.

"Look man, I told you, it is great you think I'm hot, but I don't rock that way." Link retorted sharply.

"Well… If I beat in a duel, will you at least give me a chance?" pleaded Marth softly as he batted his eyes at Link.

"Heh, yeah, okay." Link acknowledged with complete confidence, "But if I win, you have to settle for a signed autograph of yours truly!"

Navi gaped at Link in disbelief, "Link, you know he wins either way with this right?"

Link just ignored Navi and shook Marth's hand to seal the deal. Marth reluctantly released Link's hand and took a few steps back. He drew is sword, admired his reflection on the blade and motioned for Link to come at him. Link needed no encouragement, he dashed at Marth sword in hand, and ready to lay the smack-down on the effeminate noble. As Link approached though, Marth simply tripped him to the ground the dove on top of him. Link screamed in horror as Marth smothered him with hugs, kisses, and other types of affection. Those watching the display however, were highly amused. Some rooted for Marth, others rooted for Link. Some encouraged the fairy to destroy them both. All however, laughed heartily as they enjoyed the scene. All perhaps, except for Link, whose loud high-pitched screams echoed across the grounds. Yet there was one who watched from the deep within the stadium, who grinned maliciously as his arena was rebuilt…


	6. Combat and Con Artists

Mario wandered around the sparring fields deep in thought. Thoughts of the fight that ruined the arena, and thoughts of who exactly it was that had called this tournament. Who was the owner of the omnipotent voice, and what was his purpose. As he brooded deeply, his thoughts once again drifted back the contestants whose combat had destroyed the arena.

_That-a ninja… So very-a brutal she was. As if she-a did not even-a care for her opponent's-a life. Also that-a creature, such-a power in such a small body._

As Mario continued his pondering, Luigi came running at him with a wide grin on his face. As he approached, Luigi began to speak hastily. Mario could only make out a few words. One thing he did notice though, was the word ­_'Shroom._ When Luigi came to a stop, he explained that in order to get Mario to lighten up, he had gotten some 'Shrooms for him. At this, Mario immediately forgot all about is worries, and began to inhale the 'Shrooms as if they were oxygen necessary for his survival. Luigi stared blankly as Mario consumed the 'Shrooms, and when Mario started to smoke one of them, Luigi just sighed wearily and wondered where his parents had gone wrong...

Roy strolled eagerly across the fields, observing all sorts of fights and matches. He managed to catch the end of a fight between a blue-haired swordsman, and a man draped in enormous black armor. The fight had been a draw. Roy grinned widely, so many great fighters were here, and he wanted to fight them all. Roy swung his sword around in anticipation, as he searched for an opponent. He did not even realize when he nearly lopped the ear off a familiar man. The man began yelling as he turned to look at Roy.

"Hey, watch it where you swing that thing you little-" the man began, but he stopped abruptly as he realized just who it was he was speaking to.

Roy turned to see Ganondorf staring at him, and seething with rage. Roy gazed at him in vague recognition, as the man brandished his sword.

"YOU!" raged Ganondorf, "Draw your sword! NOW! We will fight, and you will die! No one crosses me and lives!"

"Hey," Roy said warmly, "How you been gramps?"

At Roy's response, Ganondorf yelled in fury and rushed at him. Roy however, simply drew back into a defensive stance and waited. When Ganondorf approached, instead of hammering Roy with his sword, he leaped over the young lad's head. Roy looked puzzled for a moment, and then began to turn around. Ganondorf though, was not in a in a good mood. Before Roy could finish turning, Ganondorf launched a devastating kick to the back of Roy's head. Before Roy knew what had hit him, he was laying face first a patch of flowers, forty feet from where he had once been standing. When Roy pulled himself to his feet, he put a hand on his head and groaned. As his vision began to clear, Roy was greeted with a roundhouse kick to face, courtesy of Ganondorf. Roy flew twenty-five feet through the air, and went crashing through a tall oak tree. Roy jumped to his feet and yelled, "Dude, whatever happened to using a sword?"

Roy looked around frantically trying to spot his attacker, but he was nowhere to be seen. As he wondered where Ganondorf could be, he heard a deep and arrogant laugh coming from above him. Ganondorf was falling towards him at an alarming speed, feet first. At the last moment before impact, Roy managed to thrust his sword upward. The Sword of Seals impacted Ganondorf with a storm of flame and heat. The blow caused Ganondorf to rocket back into the sky, and land a great distance away. Roy laughed to himself, and dashed over to where Ganondorf had landed. This fight was getting hot, and he loved it. By this point, Roy and Ganondorf had drawn quite a crowd.

_Got to give the fans what they want, yeah? _Roy though eagerly.

Ganondorf screamed furiously as he leaped out of the crater he had been laying in. Roy arrived at the mouth of the crater, just in time to receive a large uppercut slash from Ganondorf's sword. Roy staggered backwards as Ganondorf landed gracefully in front of him. Roy scarcely managed to parry blow after blow as Ganondorf came at him relentlessly. Roy was strong. He knew it, Ganondorf knew it, and the crowd knew it. Yet, even with his strength, he could not hold out forever against an onslaught like this. Roaring loudly, Ganondorf swung his sword in a massive horizontal arc. The blow glanced off Roy's right side, and Roy dropped his guard for half a second. A half-second too long it seemed, as Ganondorf exploited this opening with a shoulder charge to Roy's stomach. Roy flinched from pain, but managed just barely to pull into a defensive stance as Ganondorf's next blow hit. Ganondorf tried to pull away, but he tried in vain. Roy's sword erupted in flame as he activated his monstrous counterattack and launched Ganondorf skyward with an insane level of force. Lucky for Ganondorf, he flew mostly vertical, giving him the chance to prepare a descent attack. As Ganondorf's rise turned into a fall, he began to channel torrents of his dark purple energy into his sword. On the ground, Roy too was preparing for an attack. He had pulled himself into a ready stance, and had begun to pump massive amounts of fire and power into his sword. The Sword of Seals radiated a reddish orange, as it filled with energy. The onlookers unconsciously stepped back several paces, as the felt the sheer level of destructive force build in the swords of the two fighters. Roy gritted his teeth and stared defiantly up at Ganondorf. Ganondorf however, grinned widely with a look of sheer confidence on his face, as he fell ever faster down towards Roy. When the time came for the two to unleash their attacks, it was as if time had slowed to a stop. Like the calm before a storm, the there was a deafening silence, and a feeling of excitement. The onlookers gazed in awe at the scene before them, a scene that seemed to last ages. Yet the ages were fractions of a second, and the effect of time-freeze eventually fell away. The two attacks connected with such explosive fury, that most of the crowd was blow to their feet. As a field of power formed itself around Roy and Ganondorf, the two each struggled to force the other back. The power struggle was intense, but short lived as the two of them were forced to drop the connection. The two were thrown in opposite directions as the gargantuan power from their attacks imploded in upon itself, and exploded furiously in nova of orange and purple energy.

Roy pulled himself to his feet and stared across several hundred feet of scarred land at Ganondorf. Roy grimaced as he reached for his sword, which had flown from his grip during the explosion. Ganondorf however, held up his hand, signaling for Roy to stop. Ganondorf looked Roy in the eye as best he could from the distance, and nodded his head slightly. He then grabbed his sword off the ground and began to limp towards a medical tent the wireframes had sent up during the course of their battle. Roy simply collapsed to his knees and sighed deeply. He managed to pull his sword to his side, and thought for a moment. Did Ganondorf really signal the end of the fight? Roy knew that Ganondorf could have finished him off if he had wanted, so why? Roy did not find the answer there on the field though, and he slipped in to sleep's peaceful embrace as some wireframes came walking towards him.

Sitting in the medical tent, Ganondorf thought deeply about the battle, and his young opponent. The boy was truly incredible, his skill and power rivaled even Ganondorf's own. The boy may be an insolent whelp, but he is a great fighter, with great power. Not even Link's level of power is at that magnitude. Ganondorf smiled slightly as he thought to himself.

_That boy isn't so bad, he needs to learn to respect his superiors, but he is not so bad. He has earned my respect, and that is something not so easily attained._

Ganondorf rested peacefully in the care of the medics. He still despised the wireframes, but just this once, he would let things slide.

Bowser sat on the cool grass in horror. He gazed blankly in front of him as a myriad of thoughts filled his mind.

_I'm screwed! Why, why is everyone so strong? I am _the _King Bowser! I should be able to crush these puny men like ants! Ahhh! It's not fair!_

Bowser wept quietly as he sat on the field wallowing in his own self pity. As he continued to wallow, a familiar figure approached him.

"Um, Bowser?" she said airily, "Are you crying?"

Bowser jumped his feet and guffawed loudly, and breathed a column of flame for good measure. Bowser, roared loudly then spoke "Of course not! The great and fearsome King Bowser never cries! Wahaha!"

"Like, okay, but you still have tears in your eyes." She responded blankly.

"S-Shut up Peach! No I don't! Some dumb Goomba just left a bowl of onions near my face! Yeah, that's it, onions."

"Look Bowser, we've been friends for years, I know when you're crying." Peach said shrewdly.

"Shut up! What are you doing here anyway? It the Mario's see us talking, you'll blow our cover!" Bowser demanded.

"We've been scamming Mario for ages, what makes you think he is going to wise up today?" she said as she ran her fingers through her hair, "Look, I'm here for a reason, we made a clean billion last time you 'kidnapped' me. This time though, I think we can get at least five billion."

"What do you mean this time?" Bowser yelled, "We're in the middle of a tournament!"

"Exactly!" Peach said enthusiastically, "If hire some bumbling fool to 'rescue' me instead of waiting around for Mario, my kingdom will easily pay five billion coins!"

Bowser stared drearily at the prospect of going through the kidnapping scam again. Last time, Peach totally trashed his castle with her parties, and to top it all off, she drank all the Pepsi.

_A hundred gallons of Pepsi, gone! _Thought Bowser angrily, _I'm getting to old for this crap. I should totally kidnap her for real next time…_

Bowser got to his feet with a groan and backhanded Peach in the face. As she flew screaming into a nearby group of bored contestants, he began to walk towards the stadium.

Peach looked with great annoyance as Bowser stalked off to the stadium. She pushed her way out of the group of contestants she landed on, and also headed off towards the stadium.

_How dare that stupid turtle offhandedly discard me like that? I may be con-artist, but I'm still a princess! Heh, and a fine princess I am too. That makes it all the easier to con these sorry saps out of whatever I need from them._

Peach decided to go cheat some fool instead of going to the stadium after Bowser. That dumb turtle would come crawling back as soon as he ran out of money. This she knew, as she searched for a sucker. She noticed Wario not too far away, and he was carrying a pizza. Peach decided she was hungry, so she strolled over to Wario as sexily as she could manage so soon after being backhanded by Bowser. Wario's attention was caught immediately. He was so entranced that he almost dropped the pizza.

_Don't drop the pizza you porcine sack of lard! _Peach thought irritably.

As Peach approached, Wario gaped like a fool. When Peach asked if she could have a slice of pizza, Wario didn't so much offer her one, as he did drool a river and go into a coma. Disgusted by Wario to no end, Peach took the entire pizza, and strutted off. She ate half a slice, and then chucked the rest at some koopa who had managed to lose its own shell. Now after having conned her way into a meal, she headed off to the stadium to try and get a free place to sleep.

While she attempted to sleep, wireframes worked tirelessly on the arena. It would not be long before the arena was restored, and the matches would resume. She was not looking forward to her match. She was a thief and a princess, not a fighter. Eventually she pushed the thoughts from her mind, and began to dream dreams of attaining vast riches, and countless servants. The fact that she already had all these things, and more, was no reason not to dream of more.


	7. Of Phazon and Fishfolk

Samus strolled forth from the waiting room and entered the arena confidently as the crowd cheered wildly at the sight of her. As her opponent entered the arena, Samus activated her scan visor and analyzed his data thoroughly. The opponent appeared to be a boy of approximately eleven standard cycles. He was clad in green and had a short sword on his back, accompanied by a shield. The lad was apparently quite skilled for his age, as he had upon his person numerous weapons, items, and trophies that were presumably excavated from great dungeons or lifted from formidable foes. Further scanning would be required to get a full analysis on all of his equipment, but Samus was unable to proceed as the great voice suddenly boomed over the stadium once again.

It spoke these words as it crashed thunderously across the stadium, "We will now commence the fourth match. Samus Aran, versus, Young Link! The match will take place on the Phazon Lake Stage. Fighters, COMMENCE!"

The moment the voice ceased, the massive arena began to shift. The center of the arena caved in upon itself and began filling with water, as this was happening, Samus detected large amounts of Phazon materializing beneath the surface of the water, and her feet. Re-activating her scan visor, Samus began to analyze the nearly completed stage. According to her data, beneath the surface of the water lay an intricate network of sub-aquatic caverns and tunnels, and dispersed throughout this network were large deposits of Phazon.

Samus began to slowly make her way towards the water's edge and pondered the design of the stage. It was not an optimal stage for gladiatorial combat. Likely the primary combat would take place below the surface of the lake, thus severely limited the view of the spectators. As she considered this flaw, a series of massive video displays were projected in the air above the stadium. Clearly they were going to be used to display the fight during the time the combatants would be away from the eyes of the spectators. She had wanted more time to analyze and assess the stage, but apparently her opponent was growing impatient. She gathered this information from the flaming arrow that had been directed at the head. Deactivating her scan visor, and activating her primary combat visor, Samus turned to face her opponent, who was on the bank on the other side of the massive lake. The time for combat was now, Samus decided.

Samus leaped high in the air above the lake and launched a single missile at her young opponent. The green clad youth apparently did not know what to make of the projectile, and brought his shield up in front of him. Samus could clearly see that he was shocked as the missile combusted upon impact, and tossed the boy several feet back and onto his side. Young Link's shield was no more; it had shattered into thousands of tiny fragments which had been scattered in every direction. Samus, having reached the peak of her jump, began to descend towards the surface of the lake at high speed. Right before she impacted the water's surface though, she fired her grappling beam at Young Link and had it latch onto him securely. Then as she broke the water's surface, she dragged Young Link down into the watery depths with her. The young boy screamed loudly as he was pulled deeper into the lake, though all that could be seen coming from his mouth were a series of bubbles. Now underwater, Samus immediately began adjusting her suit's movement systems to adapt to sub-aquatic conditions. The process took mere seconds as the gravity booster activated flawlessly as Samus descended. The water no longer took any more effort to move through than would air.

She boosted herself towards the struggling Young Link and fired off a series of consecutive blasts at him from her Power Beam, followed by a charged blast from the same weapon. The boy writhed in pain as he received the blasts. After he recovered, he desperately drew his sword and began swimming at Samus. Unfortunately for him though, he was still bound by the resistance of the water and swam very slowly. Every time he got even remotely close to her, Samus launched a Power Missile at him and boosted away. Having received the fourth Power Missile at a direct hit, Young Link stopped trying to swim after her and remained still in the water. Samus paused to observe him and noticed that he had pulled out a bluish-white mask and was moving it towards his face. Though unsure of what effect a mask could have, Samus opted that it was better to prevent her enemy's actions, and then study the possible effects at a later time. She boosted towards Young Link at high speed as she switched her arm cannon to the Plasma Beam setting. As she approached, she fired off several searing blasts from the Plasma Beam that evaporated the water on contact. Samus detected the temperature in the water around her rise by several dozen degrees as she continued to fire of the blasts of burning plasma. The blasts all hit the boy full force, though their overall effect was reduced by the water, furthermore he was making no effort to dodge them or even acknowledge their presence. Samus raced to remove the mask from his possession, but she was too late to stop him, he had donned the mask and its effects were beginning to take place. Young Link was at once surrounded by a field of distortion as he began to writhe, contort, and shift his body. He was clearly in extreme pain during this process, but he endured. After moments of painful change, the transition was complete. Young Link had transformed into Zora Link.

Zora Link stretched and flexed his new body as Samus retreated to analyze her post-transformation opponent. Clearly this new form was more adept at sub-marine locomotion, and it appeared to utilize natural weapons, rather that materially crafted ones. Before Samus could get any further with her assessment, Zora Link swam towards her at shocking speed, but as Samus tried to evade he delivered a swift blow to her left side and continued to swim past her. Prior even to her recovery of the first hit, Zora Link delivered several more to her back with his arm blades. Samus spun around to counter the blows, but he was already gone by time she turned. Zora Link was maddeningly swift beneath the water; Samus could not even keep track of him. Unable to locate him by sight, Samus assumed he had gone off into one of the many tunnels around them. She immediately shifted to her X-Ray Visor and began searching all the directions. He was found to be in one of the smaller caverns below her, and at once she headed off to his location. Samus traversed her way into the cavern in which Zora Link was located, though she stopped just outside the exited. The cavern had no light source save for the dull blue glow of Phazon, and she had to adjust her suit accordingly. She switched her Plasma Beam out in favor of the Ice Beam, and her primary visor to the Echo Visor. Following that she morphed herself into the Morph Ball and began to slowly, and discreetly, roll her way down to the bottom of the cavern, where a massive deposit of blue Phazon was present. Zora Link was swimming around the cavern sporadically, and had no idea that she was nearby. Once she had made her down to the cavern's floor, she carefully maneuvered her way around the Phazon to the approximate center of the floor. Having found an area big enough for her to revert to her standard form without making contact with any Phazon, she waited for Zora Link to turn his back on her location. As soon as he did, she exited Morph Ball mode and charged the Ice Beam. Fully charged, she released a large sub-zero blast at the agile Zora. The blast froze the water as it streamed towards him, leaving a column of ice in its wake. When it hit Zora Link, he immediately slowed down and was treated to a thick layer of ice on his scaly skin. Samus followed up by shooting off several other icy blasts in his direction, these ones aimed to surround him with Icy columns, rather than hit him directly. Zora Link managed to shake the ice from his skin and had begun to swim around the cavern at high speed. She was able to track his movement via the Echo Visor, as every movement he made in the water emitted sonar waves that she was able to pick up on. She detected an incoming attack from behind and retreated into Morph Ball mode. The moment Zora Link got within range she set off a massive Power Bomb that blew him into the cavern's wall. Although her opponent was dealt with for the moment, Samus now had to deal with the fact that her bomb had caused a great many chunks of Phazon to start drifting around her. She struggled to avoid contact, but despite her best efforts she was barraged with hit after hit by the unstable substance. Each hit caused her extreme damage and disrupted her bionic suit. Having sustained heavy damage, Samus eventually managed to retreat to the entrance of a tunnel, wherefrom there she could see the full extent of the effects her bomb had caused.

There was Phazon everywhere. Particles, small chunks, and massive boulder sized pieces. The cavern's floor had now been predominantly stripped away, leaving only a floor of deadly Phazon. There was now too much activity to use the Echo Visor, so Samus switched it with the Thermal Visor. She spent a moment attempting to locate Zora Link, and found him dodging Phazon expertly as he searched for her. Apparently he had located her as he then rushed her head on. As the raced towards her, he was grazed by shards of Phazon that burned his skin on contact. He disregarded this and focused solely on her. Just before he reached her, she switched her Ice Beam to the Power Beam and fired a few quick blasts at him. Before they hit him, his eyes glowed for a short moment as a purple force field surrounded him and warded off the shots. Force field up, Zora Link rammed Samus full force, and knocked her down the tunnel and into a sheer wall of Phazon. Zora Link stopped and watched as Samus contorted in agony as she was enveloped by Phazon. Her suit began to malfunction as she endured critical damage. Missile Systems: Offline. Advanced Weapon Systems: Offline. Advanced Movement Systems: Offline. Visor Systems: Offline. Her suit was about to shut down and she had to do something. She began to reprogram her suit's energy system to accept Phazon as its primary source, while simultaneously re-configuring her arm cannon to be compatible with the same substance. Mere seconds remained before her suit would cease functioning and shut down, resulting in her death. Sweat dripped from her brow and into her eyes as she panicked to adjust the suit. The reconfiguring complete, Samus grabbed the nearest chunk of Phazon with her left hand. It seared her palm on contact, but she ignored this as she shoved the volatile material into a gash in her suit's chest area. Samus flinched and groaned as the she did so, but the pain was worth it apparently, as the suit began to draw energy from the Phazon. She used the newly acquired power to redirect the Phazon energy directly into her arm cannon. As she aimed the arm cannon in the general direction of Zora Link, she fired. A tremendous beam of Phazon erupted from the arm cannon and hit Zora Link full in the chest. Drawing energy directly from the Phazon itself, she was able to maintain the Phazon Beam for as long as she required. She allowed the beam to utterly wreck Zora Link for a full thirty seconds. The longest thirty seconds of his life; Zora Link howled in hellish agony as the gargantuan beam of Phazon mutilated his body. Eventually Samus dropped the Phazon Beam, and used the energy from the Phazon to temporarily re-activate the Gravity Boost System. She grabbed another chunk of Phazon in her hand before she launched herself away from the wall. Diverting over 90 power to her movement systems, she rocketed past Zora Link and through the network of tunnels as she headed to the lake's surface. Samus fast approached the surface of the water and noticed a horribly wounded Zora Link struggling to catch up. He struggled in vain though, as Samus broke through the surface of the water and blew over a hundred feet into the air.

Rising in midair, she shut down the Gravity Boost system, and restored the Wave Beam System in her arm cannon. As her ascent began to peak, she switched to the newly restored Wave Beam as Zora Link launched himself from the water up at her. She knew it was futile for him to try and reach her height and she gazed down at him as she forcefully inserted the Phazon she had clutched in her left hand into the chest of her suit. She directed 100 of this new burst of power into her arm cannon. She took a last glance at Zora Link; he was about twenty feet into the air as he began to descend. He glared up at her darkly through furious eyes. Samus glanced at her arm cannon, the Phazon Beam and severely damaged it; the end of the barrel was melted and misshapen. Damaged as it was though, it could handle one more shot. Aiming her arm cannon straight down at Zora Link, she fired the Wave Beam. Her arm cannon launched an absolutely enormous wave of electrical energy down at Zora Link. The wave was so powerful that her arm cannon could only sustain the wave for a mere 1.5 seconds before it literally exploded. Zora Link's eyes went wide with horror as the unstoppable energy wave crashed into him. The wave slammed into him with all the force of a sonic-speed meteor as it pushed him back down into the lake's depths. As if the blast itself was not bad enough, the instant he and the wave hit the water, the entire lake was charged with electricity. Zora Link was barbequed alive down in the dark depths of the massive lake. As the electricity within the lake began to discharge, Samus used the little remaining power she could draw from the Phazon to restore and activate her Grappling Beam. She launched the grapple and managed to hook it onto one of the arena's walls. As she began to descend though, the grapple shorted out and dissipated. Samus was left to fall over eighty feet down onto solid stone. The impact hit her hard and she was nearly knocked unconscious, they she remained awake long enough to hear the announcer proclaim the satisfying words of, "This game's winner is: Samus Aran!"

Having been proclaimed the winner, Samus had her suit switch to power conservation mode as he drifted into unconsciousness. The crowd cheered wildly around the arena as wireframes bearing stretchers dashed towards both Samus, and Zora Link deep down in the Phazon Lake. As Samus was carried off, and Zora Link was searched for, the owner of the great voice had his attention directed elsewhere…

Hours had passed since the battle between the bionic bounty hunter, and the Boy-turned-Zora, yet deep within the Phazon Lake, a presence was stirring. Traces of Samus' blood and fragments of her suit radiated darkly as they began to react with the volatile Phazon. A cloud of darkness formed in front of the Phazon, and from it emerged a small cluster of darkness. This little dark being drifted towards the reacting traces and fragments of Samus, and when it got close, it began to merge with them and the Phazon itself. Black radiation and blue Phazon energy collided and created a small explosive reaction. Out from the reaction field stepped a figure clad in a jet black bionic suit. Its eyes glowed with the dull blue glow of Phazon as it emerged from the lake. A deep voice could be heard laughing satisfactorily as this dark incarnation of Samus expelled a field of Phazon energy, and then glided from the arena.


	8. Yakuza and a Party of Three

Link sat uncomfortably in the fields outside the arena. He stared blankly as he reached in his bag for a bottled fairy. In his mind he saw Young Link. This child who was so clearly a younger version of him, who is he; this is what he wanted to know. Where did he come from, and how can he exist. There can only be one Link, one green clad hero of the sword who shall defeat the evil Ganon. Of this he had been certain, but yet, if there are now two of him now, how many more of him could there be? It was an unpleasant notion, to think that there could be several of him. Link pushed the thoughts from his mind though as he located the bottled fairy he sought and removed it from the bag.

Upon seeing the imprisoned fairy, Navi began to rant about how very wrong it was. Link was used to it by now though, every time he plundered a fairy fountain she was right there nagging him about the ethical blasphemy he was committing.

"Link, what the hell? We talked about this!" Navi screamed as she buzzed around his head like a satellite on steroids. Link sighed and shook his head as he began to unseal the bottle.

"Oh come on Navi, it's not like I'm going to bite her head off or anything!"

"That doesn't make it right Link! You think you can just break into a fairy sanctuary and pillage and abduct the resident fairies? You're a monster, man. A monster! It's so unethical, treating fairies like items!"

"Unethical, heh, says you." Link replied as he took the offensive. "This coming from the girl who wants me to marry a gay prince solely because he is rich and will buy you stuff. Hypocrisy!"

"Well, damn, Link! You never buy me anything!" Navi pouted as she floated in front of Link's face. He tried to swat her away as he continued to speak.

"Well duh. Last time I checked, I was the Hero of Time, not you. Besides, you know we have a tight Rupee budget!"

"I'm sure you could survive without ten square pounds of hair products a day, Link! I mean come on Link, your cosmetics case is bigger than your weapons bag!"

"It's not _that_ much bigger, besides, so what if I like to look good." Link grinned widely as he recalled various events, "We all know about the time I stopped a Dodongo with my star-quality looks. Ah yes, that was timeless."

"Ugh, man, Link, that was one time! That Dodongo was clearly half blind, and delusional from old age. You are not that pretty, I mean come one, Saria is prettier that you."

"You LIE!" Link screamed as a horrified expression took him over. Tears stung his eyes as the obviously blatant lie hit him. "My beauty is peerless! Am I not so gorgeous that maidens collapse at the very sight of me? Is my glorious personage not that which causes the village girls to drop to their knees and thank the gods? Is my hair not so wonderfully luxurious that barbers and stylists revere me as legend? Why, of course. My majestically unrivaled beauty is legend on par with my sword skills."

"Oh, fine! I've had enough of you. I'm leaving!" Navi screamed as she fled from Link. Link did not so much as give her a farewell glance as she flew off in the direction of a cave.

About an hour passed as Link gazed into a mirror and reassured himself of how stunningly attractive he was before he even considered going after Navi. It was not like it was the first time she had run away, one time she had run off when Link had been captured by the Gerudos. Naturally Link claimed that the women were all over him and begged him to stay, but whether or not that was actually true was irrelevant. Link packed up his mirror and his cosmetics and decided to go search for Navi. He headed in the direction of the cave and shuddered. Every time he went into a cave, bad things happened. Either there was some kind of boss creature, or there was horde of traps and monsters. Link hated caves, but of course Navi made him search every cave, pit, and crevice they came across for treasure, most of the time they found a mere five rupees, or a couple bombs, or other such things. Link thought grimly at what could be in the cave.

_Ugh, man, I bet there is a dungeon in that cave. That is so not what I need right now. All the puzzles, monsters, and traps, not to mention the boss, caves suck. I so hate caves. Navi is probably squatting in the boss chamber, telling it stuff to make it want to kill me. Man, like that time she told Volvagia I sell dragon babies into slavery as a hobby. That was unpleasant! I haven't seen so much fire since the last time Death Mountain erupted. Freaking fairy…_

As he neared the dreaded cave, he heard the voice of a being so utterly horrific that it stopped him in his tracks. This was a voice that haunted him at night, and plagued him with terrifying nightmares. Link trembled in terror as he slowly turned around, and then he saw him, the devil himself, Prince Marth.

Link screamed in fear and began to dash full speed towards the now appealing cave. He ran as fast as he possibly could with all his weapons and hair products, he ran as if his life depended on it. Link looked over his shoulder; Marth was gaining on him fast. Link's eyes went wide as he yelled in true horror. Every muscle in his body was burning as he ran, but he persevered. The cave was almost upon him, but so was Marth. Link would not be caught, not again. Not now, never again. The cave was only a few feet in from of him now and he cast another look over his shoulder; Marth was mere inches behind him. A completely delirious scream erupted from Link's lips as Marth tackled him to the ground. Desperately, Link struggled to free himself and drag his body towards the mouth of the cave. He was so close! His hand was literally in the cave! So close, he had been so close! But alas, he was caught. Marth had pinned him was stroking and hugging him relentlessly.

_Why…?_ Link pondered with a look of confusion and disbelief, _I was… so close. So very close. Why now? Oh, surely the gods hate me! Surely they are jealous of my unparalleled physical prowess. Ah, but alas, he has caught me. I suppose I will simply have to bring him along. This largely sucks. Well, maybe I can use him to set of some traps or something…_

Link eventually ceased struggling and waited until Marth released him. As he rose to this feet, Link was at the mercy of Marth's endless talking and swooning. He sighed drearily as the blue haired prince rambled on about how perfect they were for each other, and how gorgeous the green clad hero was, and while Link could not deny his unparalleled beauty, hearing such words come from the lips of a man was simply unsettling. Slowly he began to inch his way towards the cave, making no sudden movements, as if Marth were a motion sensor about to go off. The tension got to him though and Link made a break for it. Next thing he knew though, he was flat on his back staring Marth in the face. Link forced his way to his feet and slapped a hand over Marth's mouth. He carefully explained that he had to search this cave for Navi, and that he would allow Marth to accompany him as long as he didn't get in the way. It tore him up inside to say that he would allow Marth along, but he really didn't have much choice. When he had finished explaining the situation he removed his hand from Marth's mouth and gave him a chance to respond. And respond he did.

"Oh, poor Navi is lost in a monstrous cave! Come my beauteous man candy, we must quest for her! For she and I have not yet finished planning the wedding, my scrumptious fiancée." Marth gaped into Link's eyes with a genuinely concerned look about him, and clung tight to Link's right arm in the process.

"F-Fiancée? Wedding? LIES! I don't know what that psychotic little fairy told you, but there is not going to be a wedding!" replied Link, aghast with horror. His complexion was white as a sheet as the full weight of what a wedding to Marth would truly mean.

"Oh come now, you jest my handsome hero! At any rate, we must quest for Navi, no matter how dank and nasty that cave might be. Oh but I nearly forgot, a companion of mine should accompany us, he should be here shortly."

"Companion…?" Link began slowly, but he trailed off when he decided that any companion of Marth's must surely be a schizophrenic homosexual maniac.

"Yes, I met him a little while ago in the fields." Marth said offhandedly, being completely oblivious to Link's near-comatose level of shock at the very prospect of venturing forth with not one, but two Marth's. "He was following behind me when I spotted your majestic personage in the distance and dashed off towards you. He is a fair bit slower that I, so I imagine it is taking him a while to catch up."

As if on cue, a heavily armored man sporting a rather hefty axe came running into view. Physically, the man was almost the direct opposite of Marth. Though he too had blue hair, the newcomer was built like a tank. His muscular prowess was impressive to say the least, and his armor looked as if it weighed a ton. The axe he hefted was gargantuan; its two blades alone were bigger than his torso. The man's chiseled facial features, and confidant demeanor gave the impression that he literally was a wall. Seeing such a man as this, Link could only hope that massive axe was not ever turned upon him. As Link eyed the blue armored behemoth of a man, the man began to speak.

"Marth my friend, you run too fast. Not everyone can move like you do." He said with heavy breath as he stood before Marth and Link. Marth simply laughed and turned to introduce Link.

"This here is Link," Marth said joyfully, "He is the Hero of Time, and my beloved fiancée!"

"LIES!" snapped Link responsively, though Marth just brushed it off.

"Ah Link, Marth has told me much about. Though, I wonder how much of it was exaggerated, I am pleased to meet you." The heavily armored man said, with a warm tone of friendliness in his voice. "I am Lord Hector of House Ostia, brother of Lord Uther, who is Marquess of Ostia and head of the Lycian League."

"Impressive," Link whispered, "You have quite a title."

"Haha, well, for the most part I am simply Marquess Ostia's good for nothing brother." Hector said with a wide grin. He hefted his large axe and continued to speak. "Oh yeah, and this is Armads, my trusty axe. It loves cleave armor, don't you Armads? Haha!"

"Oh yes, it is a magnificent axe my Lord Hector! But alas, we will have to admire it later. Link's companion fairy is trapped deep in this daunting sub-terrestrial cavern! We would quest for her, would you join us?" said Marth, overdramatically. Complete with extravagant poses and limb movements.

"Well, it is just a cave. Nothing I can't handle alone, but I'd be glad to have your help Hector." Link added sincerely. As he waited for Hector's response, Link noticed Marth gazing up at him with big hopeful eyes. He groaned wearily and added, "Uh, and yeah, It's good you're here too Marth."

"A quest for a lovely fairly, and you ask my compliance? Then I shall! It would be an honor to quest with you fine warriors into territory unknown for the safe return of a bonnie lass! Haha, indeed! A fine quest it will be. Of sword and axe, we shall progress! Come fellows!"

Link looked Hector in the eye and smiled. The big man was completely earnest; there was no falsification in his words or his actions. Link offered his hand to Hector in an agreement of friendship, and Hector clasped and shook it respectfully. When the two released each other's hands, Hector chuckled and strode spiritedly into the mouth of the cave. Link followed in after him with confidence, and though he still largely disliked caves, he felt more at ease with a walking, friendly, axe-wielding tank along with him. As he stepped across the cave's threshold, Link's positive mood came crashing down as he remembered that Marth was also there. The effeminate prince had dashed after Link, making sure that he had not been forgotten. As the party of three entered the cave's clutches, an unspoken bond was developing. Though Link would never admit it, the comforting feeling of companions at your side was one he could get used to.

Luigi strolled around the fields contently as he searched for his brother Mario. The red plumber had again disappeared without the knowledge of the green plumber. Though, Luigi had gotten used to it. Mario was always running off to go on some quest or adventure to save Princess Peach, or collect some number of some variety star. It really was annoying, to be shafted not only so greatly, but so often.

_Freaking-a Mario! He's-a probably off on-a some new adventure! While I get-a left behind. Again! It is not-a fair! The last adventure I had, was-a ghost-busting some old mansion. That-a was crap! That-a Shroom addicted glory hound, I should-a get a quest once in a while!_

Luigi fumed silently, the knowledge that he would always live in his brother's shadow weighed heavily upon his shoulders. Still, perhaps he could find something to do, or save, or collect in these fields. As luck would have it, Luigi was being approached by a client at that very moment.

The client strode up to Luigi, cleared his throat, and began to speak in a strong voice. "Hey, Green-stache! Where the hell-crap is Mario? I got a job for him."

Luigi gaped down at the client. It was a Goomba.

_What-a the hell? Not only is-a vulgar little Goomba got a problem, but he wants-a Mario to help him! MARIO! You sorry little-a Goomba, you just killed-a yourself!_

Luigi yelled and fired off a series of green fireballs at the little brown Goomba. The poor Goomba, having no idea what was happening, burst into green flame and the attack connected. It screamed in annoyance and pain. Running around in circles, it tried desperately to put out the flames. Just as the Goomba managed to smother the fire, Luigi launched himself at little creature like a missile. He rocketed into the Goomba, and upon impact, the little brown being was thrown a minimum of three hundred feet into a mountain wall. It could be heard screaming all the way throughout the flight. Luigi kicked the grass at his feet in annoyance, and strode off towards a shady oasis.

About an hour passed as Luigi rested peacefully in the shade of the comforting trees. His peace was abruptly disrupted however, as the now wounded Goomba from earlier walked up to him and booted him in the head. Luigi gave the little guy a look of complete confusion and disbelief. Luigi was about to pound the offender, but before he could, it began to speak.

"Man, what you did before, Green-stache that was NOT cool! You just killed yourself fool. You dead, child! Nobody messes with the Goomba Yakuza. Pride to the South Side! Get him boys!"

_Goomba Yakuza…? _Luigi thought slowly.

Just then, Luigi noticed the small army of about three dozen Goombas. All of them sporting knives, Katanas, handguns, lead pipes, broken bottles and wide array of other clichéd yakuza equipment. To top it all off, they all had really bad yakuza haircuts, and scarred faces.

"The words 'Mama-mia' come-a to mind…" said Luigi drearily, "I'm-a so boned."


	9. Labyrinths and Lizalfos

Link sighed wearily as he glanced around, taking in the cave's atmosphere. He, Marth, and Hector stood in the first chamber of the cave. Daylight streamed into the relatively small chamber from behind them, and an iron door, tightly nestled into the surrounding rock, stood before them. A faint dripping could be heard, and Link noticed greenery growing near the base of the walls. Stepping softly, but confidently, Link made his way over to the closest wall, and knelt down to analyze the greenery. It was soft to the touch, healthy, and a little moist. With a sense of familiarity he then placed both of his palms upon the rocky ground, about three feet from each other. The rock was hard and slightly damp, also faint signs of heat could be felt beneath the surface. Narrowing his eyes slightly, Link lowered his left ear to the ground and pressed it firmly against the rock. Dull, distant echoes of varying volume and frequency could be heard, furthermore, a faint hum presided over the other noises. Satisfied, Link exhaled slowly and rose to his feet and looked over at Marth and Hector, who wore equally confused expressions. Running his fingers lightly through his golden hair, Link began to speak.

"Okay, this is no mere cave, what we have here is a Class Three dungeon of roughly five to eight distinct levels. Within we can expect to encounter a few aquatic environments on the upper levels, and volcanic environments on the lower levels. The monsters we will encounter will vary from peon status to high-grade soldier status. In terms of species, we will likely encounter a wide variety considering the dually environmental nature of the dungeon. There is a boss creature, one at least, but possibly up to three. There will be traps, lots of them, and several puzzles. In dungeons of this caliber we can expect that the boss is guarding some sort of archaic or powerful artifact. Treasure will be prevalent, but all the big bounty will be guarded by stronger monsters or mini-bosses. It is the treasure chambers where we can expect to find Navi. Now, in terms of equipment we will most likely need bombs, projectiles, torches and heat resistant clothing or armor. Any and all keys to any locked doors and chests will be hidden somewhere within the dungeon. The ability to swim will also come in handy, along with the ability to climb rough textured walls and balance on unstable surfaces. I believe that is everything, any questions?"

Marth and Hector simply gaped at the green clad adventurer. Obviously neither of them had been expecting this level of proficiency from him. Link smirked and ran his fingers through his hair once more, while he may not be overly fond of caves and dungeons; he had conquered more than his fair share of them. Running his left hand over the hilt of his trusty sword, Link felt a wide grin come across his face.

_Heh, who am I kidding?_ Thought Link confidently, _I can complain all I want, but I totally live for this! Sure it's not too kind on the hair or skin, but I'm absolutely crazy about this job._

"Wow Link! As expected of my gorgeous hero! You are even cooler than I thought!" Marth oozed with a wide smile on his face, and admiration in his eyes.

Hector, nodding in appreciation, also added his thoughts. "Hah! I'm impressed Link, you sure are something. This dungeon sounds tough, but with you and Marth on our side, we got nothing to worry about! Haha, I can't wait to get started!"

The two's positive comments added to Link's growing enthusiasm for tackling the dungeon. Slaying hordes of monstrous beasts, narrowly evading traps, rediscovering lost tools and treasures, and in the end facing off against a powerful boss creature, this was going to be excellent. Strolling over to the heavy iron door, Link tested its make, and turned to face his two blue haired allies. Looking Hector in the eyes, Link nodded as he said "Hector, if you please."

The big man was more than happy to comply as he walked over to the door, bellowed in strength, and delivered a powerful kick that threw the door off its hinges and several feet into the next room. One by one the three of them entered the next room. With fire in their eyes, and power in their hearts, they were off. Yet as they began their quest for Navi, another approached the mouth of the cave…

Several rooms into the dungeon, things were beginning to heat up, and not in the sense of temperature. Link, Marth, and Hector stood defiantly in a large circular chamber laden with torch pillars at the base of the wall. In the center of the chamber was a pedestal that contained a plain looking treasure chest, surrounded by four blue-flamed torch pillars. On the single round wall grew vast networks of ivy and roots. In the air above them floated three separate rotating platforms, what was on them though, remained unknown for the time being. There was a small army of about twenty Lizalfos warriors scattered around the chamber, and all of them were staring at the three intruders with murderous intent. Link slowly unsheathed his sword and whispered instructions to the others. He told them that chances are that whatever opens the chest is up on the three floating platforms and that someone needed to get up there. Link ordered Marth to scale the walls and reach the platforms while he and Hector dealt with the Lizalfos warriors. The Lizalfos were clearly waiting for them to make the first move, and one of them on the opposite end of the chamber, presumably the leader, was giving Link a particularly nasty stare.

The Lizalfos leader was truly something unpleasant to look at. The upright, humanoid lizard sported vomit-green scales, and a dull yellow underbelly. Upon his serpentine face were dozens of battle scars, most prevalent was one that ran vertically down the right side of his face and over an eye that likely no longer functioned. He had a torn red fin on the back of his head, and short, stumpy barbs that ran down his spine to the end of his tail. In his right hand he gripped a twisted blade, and in his left was a small, round shield. The leader sneered at Link and barked something in his native language at his troops. The Lizalfos all laughed gutturally at Link, one of them even mocked him by doing a little dance then mimicking his death. Link coolly glared at the Leader and raised his sword and pointed it at him. He then grinned and turned slightly to the right, and gently tapped his own rear with the flat of his blade, thus taunting the lizard commander. The Lizalfos leader roared in fury and barked an order. Link yelled for Marth to go and he and Hector dashed forth in to the horde of enemies.

Link was on the nearest Lizalfos like tempest. He dashed within three feet of it then pivoted on his left foot, thrust his right hand onto his left to support the blade, the unleashed his spin attack. The Lizalfos' voice rose out in agony as Link's sword ripped it apart. As it fell to the floor in seven separate pieces, Link ended the rotation and regained his stance. Taking advantage of the momentary shock his assault had brought, he rushed a confused looking Lizalfos on his left. Leaping through the air, Link planted his sword deep in its face before it even knew what was happening. Ripping the blade from the dead monster's head, Link put himself into a defensive position, as the shock had worn off, and the Lizalfos were coming for him. He had three of them on him, and he was managing to fend of their blows, but he didn't have an opening for a counterattack. Blade after blade crashed against his shield as he spun around rapidly trying to evade and block attacks from all sides. Eventually he managed to deflect one of the attacker's blows into another, giving him enough room to swing his sword in a wide, diagonal arc across the chest of the Lizalfos. Its blood sprayed over him as he pushed past the corpse and towards the nearest torch pillar. Link felt a blade glace across his right side as he arrived at the torch pillar. He winced from the pain, but ignored it as best he could as he put his back the wall and the torch pillar on his right. The Lizalfos in front of him cackled as they cornered him, they believed they had won. They were wrong. Link swiftly pulled out a bomb and dropped it on the flame of the torch pillar while falling to his knees and pulling his shield as close to his body and face as he could. Link knew this was an oil-based torch pillar, and he knew what was coming. The Lizalfos however, did not, and left themselves open as the bomb combusted, reacted with the oil, and engulfed them in a storm of fire. The blast had felled three Lizalfos, and wounded two others. Link's shield had protected him from most of the deadly blast, but his clothes were greatly singed and his shield was compromised, having been slightly cracked. Link shook of the effects of the blast, and closed in on the wounded Lizalfos off to his left.

Marth deftly climbed the ivy as the sounds of battle rang out below him. For one of his dexterity, getting to the platforms would be little trouble, but he was worried about Link and Hector, especially after that explosion. Telling himself to focus though, Marth just continued to climb. It was not long before he reached the height from which he could leap onto a platform. The platforms though, were not stationary, as he had noticed from the ground. They were rotating around the center of the chamber. Marth waited until one platform was within range and leapt gracefully through the air towards it. He landed on the platform with a slight thud. The platform was a rectangle of about two by three meters. On it was a floor switch that seemed to require weight to activate. Marth gingerly stepped onto the switch and it slid into place with easily. Satisfied, Marth made his way over to the next platform, by time he reached it though, he heard a shifting sound and noticed that the switch from the first platform had reset. Marth groaned as he realized the solution. The switches required constant pressure otherwise they would be reset. This meant that he, Link, and Hector would all have to step on one at the same time, and from what Marth could see of the battle below, that was going to be no simple task. Marth looked down at the raging battle below him. Link was slowly working his way around the left side of the altar towards to Lizalfos commander. He had slain seven opponents so far, and was currently engaging two more. Hector could be seen swinging his axe around in massive arcs, obliterating anything that got near it. The heavy armored man had killed five Lizalfos so far, and he was pushing around the right side of the altar. The Lizalfos were keeping their distance from him though and he was apparently having a hard time getting close enough to them to hit them, as the Lizalfos were far more agile than he was. Marth thought about what he should do, he needed to let Link know about the switches, but yelling from up here was no good, his voice would not be heard over the battle sounds. Drawing his sword, Marth hesitated for a moment before leaping off the platform and falling fast towards Link.

Link deftly parried the blows of the two Lizalfos he was engaging, but before he could attack he saw a blue blur blow past his face, and his two opponents fell the ground, covered in precision wounds. Standing in front of Link was Marth, sword elegantly in hand. Link, slightly dazed by the effeminate swordsman's speed, scarcely notice the Lizalfos on his left, about to plunge its distorted blade into Link's skull. Before Link could react, Marth flew passed him and the humanoid lizard's head fell to the ground. Link didn't even see Marth swing his sword; he could barely see him move he was so fast. Staring at Marth with newfound appreciation, Link gave him a nod and turned to face the Lizalfos commander. As he and the enemy leader stared each other down, Marth spoke to him. "Link, we have a problem, there are three pressure activated switched on the platforms. Each one requires constant pressure to be activated."

"Ah, so it's one of those," Link responded knowingly, "Okay, we can deal with the switches after we clean up the Lizalfos. Right now though, go help Hector; I'll deal with the vomit-ugly commander."

"Got it," Marth acknowledged martially, "Be careful."

"Heh, no worries, it is me after all." Link reassured egotistically.

Marth put a hand on Link's shoulder tentatively before he rushed of to aid Hector with the remaining Lizalfos warriors. Link though, strode the clear path to the commander. All the remaining grunts were on Hector's side of the chamber, so all he had to worry about was the commander. The Lizalfos commander addressed Link in a broken and accented form of English and introduced himself, "I am Zshallos, commanding officer of the mercenary Lizalfos brigade: Bladescale Hunters. It is I who will be killing you, Hyrulian."

"I don't need to introduce myself to you, however, I'm sure that my sword needs no introduction." Link retorted coolly as he brought his sword into plain view of Zshallos.

"The sword of evil's bane," muttered Zshallos, unimpressed, "A sword is nothing with a true warrior behind it. Defend yourself, Hyrulian!"

Link gripped the Master Sword tightly as Zshallos' sword crashed down upon his shield. Link struggled to remain from being forced back and fought the mighty Lizalfos' staggering strength. Despite his efforts though, Link was thrown from his feet and onto his back. Having dropped his shield when he fell, Link was forced to roll side to side in order to avoid his opponent's relentless attacks. Seeing that he was getting nowhere by avoiding all the attacks, Link waited for the next crushing blow. As before, Link rolled to avoid it, this time though, after Zshallos' blade hit the floor of the chamber, Link grabbed the twisted blade and delayed Zshallos just long enough for Link to spring to his feet. Link and Zshallos exchanged blows repeatedly, Link parrying with his sword, and Zshallos blocking with his shield. Neither was making any progress. Jumping a step back, Link pulled out a bomb and hurled it at his opponents face. Immediately after, he drew his bow and fired an arrow at the bomb. The arrow and bomb connected seconds after the Lizalfos commander had deflected the bomb. The resulting explosion was enough to knock Zshallos of balance. Before the smoke cleared, Link leapt through the air at Zshallos and slashed him across the chest in a tall, vertical arc. The mighty Lizalfos was knocked from off his feet, but as he fell he turned his body and whipped Link across the face with his tail. Not anticipating the blow, Link took the hit full force, and was sent recoiling. Using this opportunity to regain his stance, Zshallos recovered from the ground and retook his position. Link too, regained his position and continued the assault on his opponent. The two were evenly matched, neither beating the other back completely. Pulling back to draw another bomb, Link took a minor hit to the chest by a stone Zshallos had thrown. The hit merely shocked him, rather than doing any real damage. Now that he had the room he needed, Link pulled a bomb and soccer kicked it at Zshallos' face. Laughing as he knocked the bomb away, Zshallos was caught off guard by a second bomb, delivered the same way. The two bombs exploded, one harmlessly off to one side, and the other point blank in Zshallos' battle scarred face. Link dashed at the Lizalfos as fast as he could and impaled the Master Sword through his chest. Zshallos howled in fury, flailing wildly. Link was thrown back by the sporadic flailing; he hit the ground, without a sword. The Master Sword remained stuck in Zshallos' chest, and the big green Lizalfos was enraged to a point of desperation. Zshallos' eyes burned with resolve as he hurled his shield at Link and tore the Master Sword from his chest with his free arm. Link scrambled to his feet and faced Zshallos, without his precious sword. Cautiously keeping his distance, Link pulled out his boomerang and threw it hard at Zshallos' legs. The Lizalfos commander though, was no fool. He propelled himself into the air with his powerful legs and soared over Link's head, landing behind him. Before Link could react, he took two powerful sword blows to the back. Crying out in pain, Link fell to his knees. Zshallos, standing over the wounded Link, prepared for the killing blow. Link however, was not quite ready to die, and again threw the boomerang at Zshallos' legs. This time, the attack succeeded and the Lizalfos commander was knocked onto his back. Forcing himself to his feet, Link pulled the Megaton Hammer out and stood over the fallen monster. Zshallos' eyes flooded with defiance as Link lifted the hammer high and brought it crashing down onto his head. The blow was thunderous, and Zshallos' head was reduced to a pulpy mess. His opponent defeated, Link dropped to the floor and rested as he looked over to see how Marth and Hector were doing.

Marth and Hector had just finished mopping up the remaining Lizalfos warriors as Link felled their commander. Seeing Link wounded, Marth swiftly moved over to his side, and crouched down next to him. Inspecting Link's wound, he noticed it was not too bad, the swords had cut deep, but his spine was intact. He threw Link a reassuring smile as he pulled out a Vulnerary and used it to heal the horrible wounds. Thanks to Marth, it was not long before Link was up on his feet again, reclaiming his prized Master Sword from the carcass of the fallen enemy commander. As Hector strode over to them, axe in hand, the three decided to rest for a while. Not too long, just a few minutes before moving on. During this time of rest, it was clear to the three of them that their bonds with each other had grown, and that they could count on each other for support in battle. Marth looked into the eyes of Hector and Link and saw the companionship developing between the three of them. As he threw his arms around Link, and began fawning over him again, he noticed that Link did not fight so hard this time, although he still got his fair share or threats.

After about fifteen minutes of recuperation, the three decided to continue on with the dungeon, before they could do that though, they still had to open the chest upon the pedestal. Link and Marth and easily reached two of the floating platforms, but Hector was having a little more trouble.

"Come on Hector, climb!" cheered Marth enthusiastically.

"I can't, the ivy keeps breaking!" Hector retorted.

"Your armor's too heavy Hector, you'll have to take it off." Link advised, as he stared down at the metal-clad man below.

"Remove my armor? Never!" bellowed Hector, "This armor is my soul! I'll never take it off!"

"Hector, come on! You can always put it back on after! Besides, I want to see your glorious chest!" called Marth, of course.

"Forget it!" Hector shouted, "I have a better idea!" Hector walked away from the wall and ignored Marth's voice. Walking over to the nearest dead Lizalfos, he reached down and gripped its tail firmly with both hands. "Ready," he inquired loudly, "It's coming your way Link!"

Link didn't even have time to object before Hector hurled the Lizalfos corpse into the air. The corpse sailed upwards at him, and Link narrowly caught it and dragged it onto the platform. Pushing the dead body onto the switch took little time, and then Link made his way onto the last platform and activated the switch. When he did, the foul blue-flamed torch pillars on the altar went out, and the chest clicked open. Hector hopped up onto the pedestal and opened the chest. He reached in, and shortly after, pulled out a bejeweled key. Key in hand, Hector watched as Link and Marth jumped down to the ground. Link signaled for Hector to toss him the key, and when he did, Link inspected it.

"That'll be the boss key," Link explained, "We'll need it to get into the boss creature's chamber."

"Well," suggested Marth, "I think we're done here. We should get going"

"Yeah," agreed Link thoughtfully, "This dungeon is just beginning."

"Haha, excellent, I can't wait!" cheered Hector excitedly.

The three of them gathered up their weapons and equipment, and exchanged grins of anticipation as they headed out of the chamber. They still had a ways to go in finding Navi, and none of them were about to quit now.


	10. Deserts and Dopplgangers

Roy sat upon a slab of warm stone, located in a far corner of Sparring Fields, baking in the rays of the brilliant sun. Around him were soft green grasses; flowing like an emerald ocean. The occasional tree dotted the landscape, and the sounds of a rushing river could be heard in the far off distance. Peaceful, without care, and without worry, Roy let himself be overcome by the solitude of his surroundings. The fight with Ganondorf had left him weary and defeated, but he walked away from the medical tent with a sense of awe. He had felt no disappointment by the loss, rather he felt fulfilled in having experienced the glory of fighting such a spectacular opponent. He hoped to fight Ganondorf again sometime, or perhaps fight with him against a common enemy. Feeling a grin cross his face, Roy basked in thoughts of great and honorable fighting. Upon the heated slab of stone, Roy's eyes grew heavy and he slipped into a dream world, a place all his own, filled with swords and combat.

After what seemed like hours, Roy was awoken by the sounds of battle. Groggily, he shifted his position, and through drowsy eyes looked upon the fight taking place. A small, blue, winged, spherical creature was fighting a group of three companions. The leader of the three appeared to be a tall swordsman clothed in green and brown leather armor, with a soft green cloak worn off his right shoulder, whose chestnut colored hair was tied back ion a ponytail. Supporting him was a fair-haired woman dressed in a red and white outfit with a white cape flowing about her shoulders. In her hands was a large crimson scythe, which was radiating waves of heat. Behind the first two stood a tall man dressed in a blue tunic and cape. His long, pale blue hair billowed about his body as he moved.

The small, sword wielding creature, despite being outnumbered three to one, seemed to be having little trouble holding his own. He flew at skillfully at high speeds, evading the onslaught of blades and magic his three opponents threw at him. The golden sword in his hand gleamed majestically as soared, delivering crashing blows at the brown-haired swordsman and the fair-haired scythe user. Effortlessly he dodged the icy spells directed at him by the blue-clad spell-caster, and counterattacked by executing precise, deadly attacks. The swordsman lifted his sword high into the air and yelled the word 'unleash'. As he did a massive black energy sword, about the size of a two story building, materialized in the sky above him and came crashing down on winged creature. The red-clad woman then rushed at the creature, scythe burning the air as she ran, as he worked to repel the black sword attack. Furthermore, the mage in blue let fly a storm of icebergs and torrential cyclones. The skilled little creature, it seemed, was finished.

Roy gaped in wonder at the spectacle before him. One small sword wielding creature was being simultaneously hit by three high powered attacks. In the midst of the chaos, Roy noticed the small creature's eye's flash a dull red. The next thing Roy knew, the diminutive fighter had vanished, and in his place was an absolutely enormous tornado, that was proceeding to tear up the fields, and the fighters, around him. Even at his distance, Roy had to brace himself against the sheer force of the winds. The three fighters caught in the attack though, were being destroyed, and it looked like they might not live through it. Yet the winds subsided, and the tornado disappeared, and where it the eye of the storm had once been, once again stood the powerful little creature, not a sign of fatigue or injury on him. Around the composed form of the winged creature, the three fighters fell. Wounded and on the brink of death, they lay upon the ground. The blue creature folded his wings about his body like a cloak, and strode towards Roy as six Wireframes ran towards the fallen fighters at maddening speed.

The fallen fighters were carried by the Wireframes to a distant medical tent, and Roy stood and beheld the form of the small creature in front of him. Eye's shining with respect; Roy spoke, voice heavy with awe. "That was awesome! You didn't even break a sweat, man. You fight with the stuff of legend; those three didn't even have a chance! Oh, I'm Roy by the way, Roy of Pherae."

"I known as Metaknight," breathed the small creature coolly, as he stared up at Roy, "I thank you for your praise. Young man, Roy of Pherae, I would challenge you. I witnessed your combat with the man known as Ganondorf, and if I may say so, I am impressed. Your sword is strong, and your heart is free of stain. I believe we could have a spectacular match."

"Yeah, I'll accept your challenge! You sure you wouldn't rather fight Ganondorf though, I mean, he did beat me after all."

"I considered that," Metaknight stated, matter-of-factly, "Ganondorf, while an impressive swordsman, has a heart wrought with darkness and forged through pain. I prefer to fight the noble and true. Beside the point though, I was unable to locate him. Regardless, it would please me greatly to be given the honor of dueling you, Roy of Pherae."

"Nah man, the honor is all mine," chuckled Roy, as his hand moved for his sword, "I'm sure we'll have an insane fight. I can't wait!"

"Then it is decided," declared Metaknight, "We will fight upon this soil and within this time. I pray the both of us resolve and health as we begin. Now, defend thy self!"

Metaknight sprang several feet back and drew his golden sword. Roy grinned happily as he drew his own sword, and swung it in several arcs. The two rushed at each other and their swords crashed loudly, sparks erupting from the blades. Several blows were exchanged between the two, each cleanly blocked by the other. The fight lasted all of fifteen seconds though, as an obstacle made its self present.

From a distant person, in the eastern direction, came pleas for aid. Upon hearing the pained voice call out across the lands, Roy and Metaknight immediately ceased fighting and turned to face the east. Metaknight swiftly unfurled his wings and threw a concerned look at Roy as he spoke. "Come young man, we must fly to the aid of those who call for it!"

"You said it, man, we have to help if we can," replied Roy resolutely, "You're faster than me though, so fly ahead. I'll catch up as soon as I possibly can."

"Then I shall," acknowledged Metaknight, "Speed be with you, Roy of Pherae!" Having given his blessing, Metaknight took to the skies and flew east as fast as his wings could carry him.

Roy, earthbound and determined not to be left behind, sheathed his sword and raced eastward as fast as his legs could carry him. Through soft grass and over rolling hills, he ran. It was not long though before the grasses turned hard and yellow, and the hills became flat. Trees became changed from deciduous to palm, and the sun seemed to beat down harder and hotter. His legs began to burn with fatigue; he had been running nearly twenty minutes without rest. Roy pushed past the pain and fatigue though, and carried on. It was not long before he found himself in front of a skyscraping mountain wall.

He had reached the edge of Sparring Fields, and he still saw no sign of Metaknight or the owner of the voice which had cried out across the land. As confusion racked his brain, Roy noticed a pass in the mountain wall. It was snugly nestled between two towering rocky walls, and was only about twenty feet wide. Despite being in the shade of two mountain walls, the pass exhumed a powerful heat, presumably stemming from the bright, glaring light that could be seen at the other end of the pass, about nine hundred feet away. Feeling the heat wash over him, Roy dashed into the mountain throughway and set his sights on the blinding light before him.

The throughway itself had a thin layer of sand coating the floor and carvings upon its walls. As he ran, Roy examined the carvings curiously. The majority of them he could not decipher, as they appeared to be some ancient or foreign language, yet among the aged script were images of various things. Men and tools were among the images, but most commonly displayed were the images of dragons. The crude carvings showed a number of battles between dragon and man, grand battles it seemed. The warriors in the carvings though, rarely won, or at least it seemed that way. Roy's mind was being plagued by thoughts of dragons. He had experience in the area, and when dragons were involved things rarely ended well. Wiping sweat from his brow as he ran, Roy decided now was not the time to be worrying about dragons. He had a task to accomplish, and he intended to complete that task, dragons or no dragons. Focusing on the task before him, Roy strengthened his resolve as he burst forth out of the throughway.

Roy stopped in his tracks and stared at the expansive terrain before him. He stood before a massive desert, complete with all the sand, sun, and heat that came with it. All about his was desert, not a trace of deviation could be seen. Straining his eyes, he gazed out across the sandy dunes and at the horizon. Still only desert, no plants or water in sight. Turning his eyes skyward, he scanned the blue void for signs of Metaknight, and way off in the distance, silhouetted by the merciless sun; the shape of the small winged warrior could be seen. As he prepared to cross the lifeless expanse, Roy heard a determined and slightly fatigued voice speak up from behind him.

"Hey, guy, are you Roy of Pherae?"

Turning on his heels, Roy searched for the speaker, and found him standing beside what appeared to be a chunk of rock that had fallen off the mountain wall. The speaker was a young man of about seventeen years. He had slightly spiked golden blonde hair that dropped under the heat, and he bore crystal blue eyes that shone with kindness. About the youth's shoulders, a yellow scarf and a golden yellow cape hung over his red breastplate and blue tunic. The sand shifted beneath his brown leather boots as he stepped towards Roy. In his brown leather gloved hands he held a broadsword that shimmered in the intense sunlight.

"Yeah I'm Roy, how do you know me?" inquired Roy curiously, and cautiously.

"I am Isaac of the village of Vale, from the western end of the continent of Angara. That guy Metaknight told me you would be coming, and asked me to wait for you here. I heard the cries and headed off to see if I could help whoever needed it. Metaknight saw me, and said that someone else was following the same plan. We both figured that it would be safer for me to travel with an ally, rather than alone."

"Ah I see, well I'd sure appreciate the help Isaac."

"No problem," grinned Isaac, "Besides, we are both shooting for the same goal; we might as well go together."

"Heh, yeah," agreed Roy warmly, "It'd be kind of stupid not to go together, especially since there are probably dragons out there."

"You saw the cave walls too, huh?" acknowledged Isaac, "Yeah, dragons can be a problem if your not prepared."

"Tell me about it," shuddered Roy, as he thought back to his own dealings with dragons, "All that power and speed, not to mention the breath weapons."

"Yeah," agreed Isaac thoughtfully, "Well, we should probably rest for a few minutes then hit the desert. Metaknight went on ahead, and while I'm sure he is powerful, we should go back him up."

"Good call," Roy put in, "I'm eager to help, but I'm exhausted from all the running it took to get here. Metaknight has got some serious skill, but I wouldn't wish dragons on my worst enemy."

"I hear that," said Isaac, as he exhaled wearily, "Anyway, let's get some rest, that is one big desert, and I don't want to go in unprepared."

Roy and Isaac stepped over to a shady spot near the mountain wall and rested out of necessity. The two young fighters got along very well as they laughed with each other, compared weapons and equipment, and exchanged stories of their own experiences with dragons. Each fighter thought to himself about the journey ahead; what exactly would they find in this desert, how is the untouchable Metaknight faring, and who exactly had called forth with pleas for aid? These answers lingered out in the burning desert sands for the time being, and the two waited with eager noble hearts and eager swords, as the scorching sun lorded over them.

Meanwhile, far across Sparring Fields, and deep within a subterranean dungeon, another set of heroes continued their own quest.

Link pouted a little as he massaged his face, remembering back to the fight with Zshallos. The Lizalfos mercenary had wounded his face, and there would be hell to pay if it scarred. After all, no one desecrates the glorious montage that is Link's face, or rather, so Link claims. Link's attention was shortly removed from his vanity though, as he, Marth, and Hector faced yet another challenge in the dungeon.

The chamber in which they now stood was a massive drop shaft. On the tallest floor, the one on which they stood, was about half the size of a football field, and contained a large number of floating and moving platforms, and a few scatter torches and torch pillars. Across the room, four doors could be seen, one for each compass direction. In front of each door there was a stable ledge supporting it. The three fighters stood with the west door behind them. Link noticed that the walls of the chamber had sparse patches of ivy, and from a few points in the wall, water gushed heavily forth, disappearing into the darkness below.

"Okay, this could be tricky," announced Link thoughtfully, "Chances are that the moment we set foot onto the floating platforms a large group of aerial monster will engage us. Now, obviously, fighting them on terrain like this is potentially suicidal, so we need to get to those doors. We could either all go for one door, or we could hit them separately. It is highly likely that beyond each door no more than three small chambers lay, so I think we should each pick one. Sound good?"

"Link; my shining light! I'd follow you to the depths of hell itself!" Marth said enthusiastically.

"You just might have to," Link whispered grimly as he cast a penetrating glance at the enormous drop below them.

"Oh, such sincerity!" admired Marth, then his tone changed and his expression was one of concern, "Seriously though Link, I'll handle the monsters here. While I am sure you are more than capable, I am simply more agile. I can handle this terrain."

"Marth's right, Link," added Hector, as he noticed Link was thinking deeply over how to proceed, "He's got more speed and agility than the both of us combined, haha, this guy is a blur!"

"Yeah, you're right," Link admitted, "Okay Marth, You'll handle the brunt of the enemy force, and I'll back you up with my bow while heading to the eastern door. Hector, you're a tank, but don't try to fight here, just focus on getting to the northern door; it has the simplest route. Marth, once you think you have the space, hit the southern door. From there we will each explore the subsequent rooms separately, once finished we will meet just inside the northern door."

"Argh," groaned Hector irritably, "I am a burden! My friends, I will make up for this later!"

"No worries, Hector," Marth reassured kindly, "Once we start fighting on some stable ground, you'll more than make up for it!"

"Alright," Link said, "Let's go."

Giving Hector a look of support, Link leapt onto the nearest platform, and just as he had predicted, a large number of harpies and lizalfos came crashing through the ceiling. The lizalfos all landed dexterously on the floating platforms, and the harpies all flew gracefully above their heads. Link froze in his tracks and quickly reanalyzed the situation. Hector's route was still more or less clear; the few enemies in his path would be gone long before he got to them. He and Marth could handle the rest, though he honestly was hot expecting both harpies _and_ lizalfos. Regardless, Link drew his bow and let fly an arrow. His aim was true, and a harpy screamed in shock as it fell from the sky. The combat had begun.

"Harpies," Marth said deeply, as he ripped his sword from its sheath, "I hate harpies!" Marth launched himself out over the endless darkness, past Link, and landed deftly on a slow moving platform. At once a lizalfos and two harpies rushed him. As the lizalfos leapt through the air towards the platform Marth had been standing on, Marth blew past him with a flurry of blows and landed on the platform the lizard creature had jumped from. The lizalfos was dead before it knew what had happened. The harpies though, were still on his tail. Propelling himself twenty feet into the air, Marth waited for the harpies to approach him. Assuming they had him defenseless, the harpies cackled with ecstasy. They were; however, sadly mistaken. Before the harpies had a chance to act Marth dashed to and fro through the air as he caught both harpies in an aerial sword dancer combo. Feathers and bodies fell from the air as Marth delivered the final crushing blow and drifted smoothly onto a nearby platform. Hastily he scanned for Link and Hector to see how they were faring. Link, bow in hand, was simultaneously picking off harpies with sniper like precision, and was keeping Hector's path clear of lizalfos. Hector was devoting all of his focus on simply getting from platform to platform. Marth, satisfied of his allies' safety, turned his attention back to the task at hand.

Behind him Marth heard a harpy's screech, and he leapt aside as one of the feathered fiends clumsily tried to hit him. Doubling back on his path, Marth launched himself at the harpy and delivered a smash attack in a vertical arc straight to the harpy's face. Having been caught with the tip of Marth's blade, the harpy was sent screaming through the air like a missile. Marth grinned smugly as the weaponized harpy crashed into a lizalfos that was about to engage Link. The two enemies plummeted into the darkness below, roaring with horror.

_Stylish,_ Marth thought as he twirled his sword around his fingers, _I'm getting into this, heh, I hope you're watching me Link!_

Link cast a swift look at Hector; he was nearing the northern door. As he felled another harpy with yet another precision arrow, Link counted the remaining enemies. There were only five lizalfos left, four were congregating around the eastern door and one of them was leaping around, presumably looking to take down Marth. As for the harpies, there were eleven remaining. Six of them were on focusing on Marth, two of them were with the lizalfos at the eastern door, and the last three were still trying to drop Hector and Link. Link slew another harpy as it dived for Hector, and then he leapt a few platforms closer to the eastern door; he was about halfway there now. Before he continued, Link cast a look over at Marth.

The agile prince had been having no trouble holding his own thus far, but now he had seven enemies on him, and Link wondered if he would be able to cope. His fears were in vain though, he noticed, as Marth acted. The agile prince was soaring through the air like a falcon; he was leaping of walls and harpies alike as his sword glistened in the chamber's low light. One harpy, another harpy, and then two more; Marth was giving them no quarter. Following that Link simply saw a blue blur as the last two harpies, and the lizalfos, were downed. Link cast a quick glance at the enemies congregating around the eastern door. They were completely absorbed with Marth's performance.

Using their fixation on Marth as an opening, Link swiftly rushed from platform to platform as he approached the eastern door. As soon as he was close enough, he launched himself through the air and landed a flying sword-plant in one of the lizalfos' faces. A fountain of blood erupted from the lizalfos' face as Link braced his feet on the dead creature's shoulders and leapt towards the lizalfos on his left. A strong, well aimed kick to the back of the head knocked the oblivious creature into seemingly boundless pit of the drop shaft. The two harpies overhead decided that they would be heroes, and swooped down on him, apparently though they changed their minds in favor of death, as they were dead the moment they moved; courtesy of Marth.

"Marth, I got this," yelled Link desperately, as he plunged the Master Sword into the chest of another lizalfos, "Help Hector with those harpies!"

"You got it!" acknowledged Marth, as he honed in on Hector's position. Link had noticed that Hector was now only one platform away from the door, but was being hounded by the two remaining harpies. The heavy armored man was managing to keep them at bay with Armads, his gargantuan axe, but he was having trouble keeping his balance on the small, slow moving platform in which he stood.

Turning his attention back to the last remaining lizalfos, Link struck out with conviction, and managed to sever the creature's shield arm. It howled in agony as blood spurted from the stump, and began to bury Link beneath a flurry of raging sword blows. Link parried all the blows with intermediate difficulty, and knocked the sword from its hand. The lizalfos, in an act of desperation, threw itself at Link, but only managed to get its self impaled upon his sword. Trying in vain to claw at Link's face, the lizalfos began to slip into death.

"Give my regards to Zshallos," Link breathed coolly, as he kicked the dying lizalfos off his sword and into the black abyss below. Sheathing his sword swiftly, Link cast a quick glance over at Marth, who had just finished off the three remaining harpies, and at Hector, who had reached the northern door. Seeing everything in order, Link stepped up to the iron door before him, and pulled it open. The gust of warm air drifted past Link's blood soaked body, and he stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him.

The room he had entered was a small chamber bearing only two torches, fixed to the walls, and a treasure chest. Stepping casually over the chest, Link looked it over. It was nothing special, just your average treasure chest. Shrugging, Link kicked the chest with enough force to open it and then bent down to retrieve its contents. Dungeon Map in hand, Link shut the chest and took a seat on it leisurely, as he pored over the map.

On the map, Link looked for any irregular rooms or chambers he could find, and noticed that the boss chamber was on the lowest level.

_Well I could have told you that, _Link thought irritably, _it's almost always on the lowest, or highest, level._

Next he located the room he had just came from, and looked at the rooms around it. The room to the south appeared to be a series of three rooms, the last being a treasure chamber.

_Probably the dungeon item, or maybe a rupee stash, _thought Link offhandedly, _we already found the Compass and Boss Key._

The room he was in now, was a dead end, and in the room to the north was…

"Oh no," Link whispered in slow realization, "Damn it, NO!" Link frantically shoved the map into his item pack and dashed towards the door. He tore the door open and rushed into previous room, searching for some sign that Hector had not yet proceed. "HECTOR!"

Marth, who had been about to leave via the southern door, turned to see what all the yelling was about, but before he could ask, tragedy struck. In the direction of the northern door came a deafening explosion that shook the foundations of the dungeon. The northern wall was blown apart, and a low, powerful roar could be heard amongst the screams from behind the rubble. As he began to dash towards the ruined wall, a legion of at least three dozen harpies flooded the chamber from the hole in the ceiling. Panic filling his heart; he cast an anxious look over at Link. The heroic and blood stained hyrulian was being quickly overwhelmed by the twenty or so harpies that had swamped him. Trying to rush to his aid, Marth's path was blocked by a small army fifteen harpies. Desperately trying to deal with them, Marth kept glancing over at Link. Narrowly dodging the assaults from the harpies, Marth managed to counterattack one and kill three in the process. Marth, using one of the harpy bodies as a base, propelled himself towards Link. It was too late though, as he saw Link topple over the edge of the platform he had been standing on. Marth crashed down onto a moving platform as Link's terrified cries could be heard resonating up from the darkness. Gripping his sword tightly, Marth screamed furiously and set himself up to take revenge, as thirty nine harpies circled above him menacingly.

Link yelled in terror as he plummeted through the deep endless darkness. Panic ruled his actions and he flailed madly. After a full five seconds of falling, the darkness began to fade, and the low light of magma took its place. Resolve flooding back to him, Link tilted his body and glided towards the nearest wall as he fell. Once he was close enough he unsheathed his sword and plunged it hard into the rocky wall. The Master Sword ripped through the chamber wall, showering Link with sparks and stone fragments. After about three seconds Link's descent began to slow, yet after another two seconds an irregularity in the rock threw Link, and his sword, from wall. Link crashed hard onto a large, round, stone platform, sword and shield flying from his grip as he landed. Squirming and groaning in pain, Link looked around the chamber. The platform he had landed on was surrounded by liquid hot orange magma, and the Master Sword lay inches from the edge. The corpse of a lizalfos could be seen hanging half off the platform. Link's shield though had shattered into several pieces upon impact; likely thanks to the cracks it received earlier. Across the magma was another, far bigger platform that only hand magma on one side, Link's side. Straining his eyes, Link saw a sword in a pedestal, bathed in a ray of light that was streaming down from somewhere up above.

Struggling to stand, Link painfully moved to recover his trusty sword. Once he had done so, he stretched his limbs and shook off the pain of his wounds. They were not as bad as they had initially seemed, it was mostly shock and vibrations from the impact of the fall. After ensuring his condition, Link pulled out his Hookshot and traversed his way over to the substantially larger platform. Seeing little else to do, Link went over to inspect the sword in the pedestal. As he approached though, a shadowy figure appeared seemingly out of nowhere and booted him hard in the face. Link staggered back, shook off the blow and looked to identify his attacker. He stared in disbelief and horror; the being before him was none other than that which he hated most, more even than Ganondorf. The dark shadow grinned widely as he spoke.

"It's been a while, Real Thing," it greeted wildly, madness in its voice. Link gritted his teeth and gripped his sword furiously; the shadow was Dark Link.


	11. Darkness and Oasis

Link stood defiantly in the eyes of Dark Link, sword in hand. Dark Link cackled amusedly as he looked over at Link, he hopped from foot to foot and shook his head as he did so. Link glared in recognition; there was no doubt this was the doppelganger he had fought before. How could he forget the wild insanity that emanated from within the dark being, it plagued his nightmares and shook his soul. Again Dark Link laughed in a high and echoing voice, this time waving his sword around in the process.

"Real Thing, what's the matter, not thrilled to see your old pal? Haha!" the dark one mocked, "Where's that fairy of yours, Real Thing, off with another hero?"

Link raised an eyebrow in suspicion, and wondered what the doppelganger truly meant by that. The fact that he mentioned Navi at all could very well mean he knew her location. On the other hand, he doubted Dark Link's intelligence, so chances are he simply hasn't seen her. If that is the case, she must be somewhere else in the dungeon. Link thought for a moment, and determined that Navi must be in one of the rooms they overlooked.

_Probably the one with the biggest chest and most gruesome monster, _he thought irritably.

"Come on Real Thing, don't worry, you always got me! Ahaha!"

Link turned his attention back to Dark Link and gripped his sword more tightly. He stared Dark Link straight in the eye, and then he put on a shocked expression and shifted his gaze on the wall behind the dark being. Dark Link got a confused look and turned around to see what Link was looking at, and the moment he did Link rushed him and managed to knock him in the side of the head with the flat of his blade.

"Oh, Real Thing, was that really necessary?" Dark Link said, stumbling backward, a grin on his face, "Here I was hoping we could be the best of FRIENDS!"

Dark Link cackled loudly and leapt at Link, his sword swinging wildly. Link narrowly managed to parry the blows and staggered backwards. Link subtly pulled out a bomb and hurled it in Dark Link's direction. As Dark Link jumped the bomb, he collided with the second bomb Link had thrown above him, then screamed maddeningly as the bomb exploded.

"Ehh? Bombs, Real Thing, is that really necessary?" the smoldering doppelganger said delightedly, "What's wrong, no faith in your sword arm?"

Link brushed off the verbal jabs and hurled his boomerang at his opponent. As Dark Link stepped aside effortlessly, Link tossed a bomb at his feet, and then leapt high in the air, drew his bow, and fired off three arrows at the dark one's face. Dark Link too leapt into the air and the arrows were incinerated by the bomb's explosion beneath him. As Link fell back down to the ground, Dark Link was hit from behind by the returning boomerang. As Dark Link fell, Link shot an Ice Arrow at him; thus freezing the lower half of his body.

"Haha! Chilly! You know Real Thing—" Dark Link began, but was cut off before he could continue.

"Stop calling me Real Thing!" yelled Link, great annoyance prevalent in his voice, "My name is Link. LINK!"

"Struck a nerve, have I, Real Thing?"

Link roared and fired an arrow into Dark Link's face. Dark Link's ice encased body shuddered as the arrow stuck in his forehead. Breathing a sigh of relief, Link relaxed and lowered his weapons. He had had quite enough of that doppelganger.

Link jumped in surprise as the ice binding Dark Link shattered, and the dark being ripped the arrow from his forehead.

"Come now, you don't think I'm about to go down that easily do you?" he said innocently, but then he bent his knees and smashed the ground furiously with his sword. Infernal rage poured out of his eyes, it was so strong Link could almost touch it. His tone turning gravely serious, he added, "Let's go, Link."

Link and Dark Link's swords crashed against each other, ringing loudly in the darkness. Sparks flew as the two traded blows, back and forth, again and again. Link delivered a crushing downward swing, but Dark Link blocked the hit with his own sword. Dark Link countered with a step forward and a wide horizontal slash, but Link managed to effectively parry it with the Master Sword. A strong kick to the stomach by Dark Link sent the green clad hero sailing backwards, but as he flew he hurled a bomb into Dark Link's face. The explosion knocked the dark one to the ground. Both fighters, once again on their feet, rushed each other determinedly.

The two were evenly matched, which is to be expected when one is fighting his dark side. Both fighters managed to get the occasional hit one his opponent, but neither was gaining any true headway. Link however, was running out of stamina much faster that Dark Link, as a result of having traversed the dungeon before hand.

Link launched himself through the air and delivered a flying sword plant, which caught Dark Link in the right shoulder. The doppelganger responded with a cry of pain and a quick thrust of his blade into Link's right arm. Pressing hard against Dark Link's face and shoulder with his feet, Link vaulted backwards through the air and landed ten feet back. He ran his hand tentatively over the wound in his right arm and showed little concern.

_Tch, he'll pay for that. How dare he damage my body! _Link thought to himself as he beheld Dark Link running a hand over his shoulder, _Ah well, it's not like I need that arm a whole a lot right now. Then again, it's not like he needs that shoulder either. We're both left-handed…_

Dark Link screamed loudly, his voice held an obscure blend of fury and delight. He shook his head wildly and yelled loudly, then abruptly stared Link dead in the eyes. With a level of speed he had not shown before, Dark Link ran at Link and dived towards him. As he soared horizontally, he unleashed a new variation on Link's trademark Spin Attack. Dark Link flew towards Link, head first, spiraling as he did; sword tearing up the ground. Link, having no idea how to defend against this new attack, tried in vain to dive out of the way. The dark doppelganger blew past him like a propeller on a jet engine. Link howled in agony as Dark Link's sword ripped up his back. Scraps of blood soaked green material scattered around in the wind generated by Dark Link's propeller attack.

Link fell forward onto his stomach, twitching in pain, and struggling to pull himself to his knees. Blood ran freely from the wounds on his back, and dripped down his back and off his waist to the hard ground below.

"Didn't see that one coming did you, _Link_?" Dark Link sneered, as he shook the Hyrulian's blood from his sword. He followed up with a loud echoing laugh that sent chills down Link's spine.

Link managed to pull himself to his feet, though barely, and leaned on this sword for support. The pain in his back was immense, almost blinding at times. Gritting his teeth and steeling his nerve, Link straightened his back and tensed his body. Blood splashed onto the ground below him as he did. Doing everything in his power to ignore the pain in his back, Link gripped his sword and ran once again at Dark Link. As Dark Link reacted, the two fighters began fighting once again.

Marth wiped blood from his eyes as he looked up at the twenty-seven remaining harpies; he had managed to kill twelve of them so far, but the fight was beginning to take its toll on his body. The harpies were getting more aggressive, and he was growing more fatigued by the minute. He wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to continue.

A harpy's screech pierced the air as it, and three of its friends, dived at Marth. Marth leaped through the air towards them and pulled into a defensive position. When the four harpies impacted him they were torn apart by Marth's Counter move. Vaulting off one of the dead harpies, Marth soared towards a harpy in front of him, and pierced it's skull with his sword. Again he vaulted of the dead harpy and headed towards another. This time though, one of the harpies charged his right side, and sent him careening into a wall.

Marth coughed painfully, and rolled onto a platform beneath him. Luckily for him it had been there, otherwise he would have fallen into the darkness below, just as Link had. Determined to avenge Link, Marth faced off against the twenty-two remaining harpies. A sharp pain shot through his body though, as he gripped his sword tightly. That last blow had dealt a lot of damage.

_Ugh… That hurts… I really can't take a hit, _Marth thought as he rubbed his right arm, _Well, I guess this is what I get for choosing speed over defense._

Marth jumped backwards towards the wall, then using it as a base, propelled himself towards the swarm of harpies. As soon as he was in range he started a Sword Dancer combo. A quick vertical slash bisected the first harpy in his path, the second harpy was split horizontally, and the next one was trisected by two cuts in quick succession. The combo's fifth blow landed on some poor harpy with the misfortune of being hit with the tip of Marth's blade. The harpy was launched through the wall of the room, thus shattering more of the wall, and causing the entire room to shake.

Marth pulled back and glided down to a small platform below him, whereupon he began charging his Shield Breaker. A pale purple glow began to for around his sword, growing stronger and stronger as time passed. The two nearest harpies, in all their wisdom, decided that now was good time to attack. The both of them were hit by the full power of Marth's attack; one harpy was knocked straight down into the abyss below, and the other one was knocked into the platform in front of Marth, which subsequently shattered. Its pieces disappeared into the deep darkness below.

Just as he was beginning to think he had a chance of winning, the sixteen remaining harpies all rushed him at once. Marth received a decisive blow that knocked him through the air and into the wall above the western door. Marth cried out as he fell the few feet to the ground, and as his sword fell from his hand. Through dizzy eyes, Marth looked in horror at the harpies flying ominously towards him. He struggled to reclaim his sword, but to no avail, it was too far out of reach, and Marth was in no condition move.

_So this is it, huh, well, I suppose I've had a good run, _Marth pondered reminiscently, _Although, I sure would have like to spend some more time with my beloved Link… Oh well… Maybe in the next life…_

Resigning himself to defeat, Marth sat and waited for the end. He would have to wait a little longer though, because right then a big man with short red hair, black and brown leather armor, and a large sword on his back came crashing through the wall above his head. Right foot forward and surrounded by dark purple energy, the man soared through the air and issued a shattering kick to the nearest harpy, which in turn collided with two other harpies. All three harpies were killed on impact and plummeted from sight.

Marth's clouded mind struggled to comprehend what was happening. As the man in front of him focused the purple energy onto his right fist, a familiar voice rang in his ear.

"Marth, are you okay? I brought a Red Potion!" the high pitched feminine voice said into his left ear, "Here, take it!"

"Navi…?" he mumbled bewildered, as the man in front of him unleashed a immensely destructive punch to a harpy, and sent it crashing into three other harpies, and then through the wall above the eastern door. Marth turned his head to the left to see Navi floating in front of his eyes, clutching a red potion in her hands. The sight was quite humorous, as the potion bottle was roughly three times the size of Navi. Marth would have laughed if he didn't feel like his chest would explode is he did, "We were looking for you… I… Link and Hector… they…"

"Don't worry right now, just drink the potion, it'll help!" the tiny blue fairy pleaded as she dropped the red potion into Marth's left hand, which was resting at his side. Casting a glance at the armored man, who now had his sword in hand and was proceeding to cleave the remaining harpies, Marth slowly and painfully lifted the potion to his lips and drank.

The red liquid burned his throat as it splashed down, but even as he drank it, he could feel his mind clearing, and his wounds healing. With his strength partially restored he gulped down the rest of the potion, grabbed his sword, and jumped to his feet. Navi buzzed around his head happily as he flexed and tested his body. He was not nearly at full strength, but it was more than enough to keep going.

Marth looked past the man in front of him and saw there were only three harpies remaining, but they were hanging back at the far end of the chamber. With a grin on his face, Marth dashed up behind the man and jumped onto his shoulders. The man gave Marth a confused and slightly angry look, almost as if he wanted to beat down the agile prince right there, but then he realized what Marth wanted.

The man leapt as far and high as he could off the ledge, and then Marth launched himself off the man's shoulders. Soaring towards the harpies like a missile, he readied his sword. The last thing the harpies saw was a blue blur and a flash of silver, and Marth landed on the ledge in front of the eastern door.

The harpies defeated, Marth, Navi, and the powerful man met on a decently sized platform in the middle of the chamber.

"Marth, we've got to save Link, there's no way he can hang on much longer!" Navi explained frantically.

"Link?" breathed Marth in confusion, "He's alive? There's no way he could have survived that fall!"

"Link and I are joined spiritually," she explained, "so I know he's alive. He's wounded though, and badly, and if what Ganondorf says is true though, he's in serious danger."

"What do you mean?" Marth inquired, still not fully sure what was happening, "Isn't Ganondorf a bad guy?"

"Heh, there's no doubt about that," Ganondorf said confidently. His tone turning dire, he added, "Regardless, I can sense the creature Link is fighting. It is an evil thing, something more so even than I. I may be evil, but I am wise; I understand that darkness must be controlled in a certain way in order to be utilized, and I operate through order and logic. Unlike me, this being is pure, unrestrained chaotic evil. It may give off the illusion of linearity, but all it cares about is destruction. Heh, while I'm not one to talk against destruction, this thing pushes it too far. I will destroy it, even if that means helping Link."

"Err… I suppose if we are to save Link, we don't have much choice to trust you," admitted Marth reluctantly.

"Indeed," Ganondorf said deeply, and not without regret, "Now, come fairy, and you also, swordsman. I've got an enemy to destroy, and an enemy so save. We've got to find a way down to Link."

"Well," said Navi slowly, "the fastest way down to him is, well, down."

"Heh, too true," said Ganondorf darkly, a wicked grin crossing his lips. In a swift move, he shoved Navi in a bottle, and grabbed Marth securely. Following that, he jumped down into the dark abyss below, despite the screams of terror coming from both Navi and Marth.

"You're finished, Real Thing, or should I say, _Hero of Time_?" Dark Link mocked cruelly as he ripped his sword out of Link's right arm, which had barely stopped the blade from piercing his heart. Blood ran freely down his wounded arm, and from the numerous other wounds covering his body.

Fiercely gripping his sword, Link stuck the blade into the cold, stone platform, and pulled himself up from the floor and onto his feet. He wavered precariously as he leaned on the sword, back arched and head dizzy. Several feet in front of him, Dark Link stood smugly, though not without wounds of his own. Link grimaced sharply, but more out of annoyance than pain; fatigue had caught up with him much faster that he had hoped. In top form, he and Dark Link were dead equal in combat; however, he was hardly in top form right now. His head dizzy, so very dizzy, Link pushed himself to stand straight, rigid, and look Dark Link in the eye. If he was going to win this, he was going to have to do something drastic.

"Is that what you think, huh, _Phony Thing_?" Link spat sharply as he took the verbal offensive, blood spraying from his lips as breathed, "You've got it all wrong you disgusting farce! Not only do I have the upper hand, but like you said, I'm the real thing. You are nothing but a counterfeit; a reflection of _my _glory. Without me you wouldn't even exist, blasphemous impure forgery!"

Dark Link roared in fury at Link's taunts and charged him, sword forward, and eyes burning with madness. The sounds of his steps echoed his anger throughout the chamber. A sickening noise passed the ears of the combatants as Dark Link thrust his sword into Link's unprotected stomach. Link groaned yelled as the blade twisted inside him.

"You're an inch from death, _Inferior Thing_, and you're looking him in the face," whispered Dark Link triumphantly as his sword coated itself with Link's red blood.

"Two Inches," Link retorted resolutely as he grabbed the blade of Dark Link's sword with his mangled right hand and pulled it deeper into his body, grinning painfully, he added, "Now I'm an inch from death. It doesn't really matter though; you're going to die first anyway, _Cadaverous Thing_."

Dark Link looked as if he was about to make a witty retort, but before he could, Link plunged the Master Sword into the dark one's side. Staggering backwards, clutching his side, Dark Link released his grip on his sword. As quick as he could manage in his state, Link dropped the Master Sword, pulled out the Megaton Hammer, and swung it in a low, rising, vertical arc, thus impacting Dark Link's chin with a bone shattering uppercut.

Howling with rage and clutching his face, Dark Link flew backwards through the air and landed about thirty feet from the pedestal on which stood the sword bathed in radiant light. He hit the ground with a thud. Link watched the doppelganger twitch sporadically on the ground before the pedestal; he made no move at regaining his stance.

Bracing himself resolutely for the intense pain, Link carefully slid the dark, bloody, sword out of his stomach. As blood poured out of his stomach, Link beheld the sword that gave him the fatal blow. Structurally it was identical to the Master Sword, yet where the Master Sword had a blue hilt and silver-white blade, this sword had a dark, almost blood red hilt and an obsidian-black blade.

He dropped to his knees and coughed up a mouthful of blood onto the already bloody stone beneath him. More blood splashed forth from the wound in his stomach, and through hazy eyes, Link noticed that Dark Link was on his feet, approaching the sword on the pedestal. After he stepped up to the sword though, he turned around and beheld Link.

"It's called Black Master Sword," he said nihilistically as he had noticed Link examining the black sword in his hands, he continued as his eyes ran across the dark weapon, "It's an exact replica of yours, with the exception that it's not known as the 'Sword of Evil's Bane'. That sword holds no reputation wrought through light, it is a thing of darkness, much like me, heh. I _lovingly _refer to it as the 'Sword of Evil's Reign,' but you don't have to call it that."

Dark Link looked uncharacteristically sentimental as he looked at the black mockery of the Master Sword resting in Link's hands. Link grabbed the Master Sword, and gripped both swords tightly, thrusting both of them into the stone in order to keep himself on his knees. He breathed heavily and painfully as he glared up at Dark Link.

"Call it whatever you want though; It's yours," Dark Link with finality, and with a devious grin he added, "I don't need it anymore."

Link coughed brutally as Dark Link spun around and wrenched the sword from its pedestal. The instant the sword was in his hand, Dark Link's body began to glow. A white light completely encompassed him, and then radically shifted to a presence of darkness. The dark glow began to stretch and distort slowly, and then at once it stretched horizontally. The dark glow kind of melted away and where once stood Dark Link; there now stood in a row, four subtly different Dark Links.

"Gotta love the Four Sword, eh Real Thing?" the one on the center left laughed coolly, as Link's eyes went wide with horror and despair.

The sun shone high above Roy and Isaac, searing them brightly with its scorching rays. The sand beneath their feet shifted as they stepped, making walking that much harder. There was not a breeze to be felt, nor a cloud in the sky; the air was dead heat, burning their parched throats as they inhaled. They trudged forward, clothes heavy with sweat, and hair drooping in the sticky humidity generated by their bodies.

"I hate deserts," grumbled Isaac, as he dragged his sword lazily through the burning sands, "Seriously, a desert this hot, there's got to be an oasis around here somewhere!"

Roy let out a low groan of agreement. Head drooped low, he shuffled on. He too was dragging his sword through sand, such that a trail could be seen behind the two of them. Lazily he looked up in front of himself towards the distant structure to which they were heading, and groaned loudly.

"Man, it's still so far away!" he breathed in exasperation, "This is insane, we've barely even moved!"

"It's just an illusion, we've gotten closer, look behind us," explained Isaac wearily, "the mountain wall has gotten further away."

"Yeah, yeah you're right," acknowledged Roy, though still secretly suspecting the mountain wall of tricking them in some way, "Still, I could really go for a— DUDE! Look over there!"

Roy excitedly jabbed his left hand in the direction of an oasis. Waving his sword in the air in triumph, Roy took off for the Oasis as fast as he could.

"Sweet, merciful Wise One," Isaac exclaimed, rubbing his eyes in disbelief, "He's not delusional, I see it too!"

Isaac too ran off in the direction of the oasis, his sword flailing above his head wildly. The closer the two of them got to the oasis, the bigger it appeared to grow. Kicking sand up as they ran, they eventually reached the oasis, and simultaneously the dived into the water.

The cool water splashed around them luxuriously. They could feel the sweet, cool water ebbing away the fatigue and heat, for several long minutes they splashed back and forth, basking in the relief from the desert sun.

Isaac, looking up above him, marveled that such blessed palm trees could grow in the arid desert. They were impressively tall, the leaves were vibrantly green, and the shade they cast down upon the oasis was godly. The pool of water in which they frolicked was about forty feet in diameter, and surrounded by at least a dozen and a half of the impressive palm trees. Lush green grass grew between the magnificent trees, and extended a few feet past them before they gave way to sand. On the north side of the oasis, was a small formation of grey rock, about seven feet high. Looking off into the east, Isaac suddenly thought their destination didn't seem so far anymore.

"Roy, hey," Isaac called, reluctant to break the euphoric atmosphere, "We really need to get going. The person who cried could need our help, and I'm wondering what Metaknight is up to."

Roy slowly ceased his splashing and got an almost sad look on his face, "Yeah, I know. Back into the heat we go, but man, the water is so nice. Still, helping that person comes first, let's go," he said resolutely and stood up—the oasis was only about five feet deep where he stood—and trudged his way out of the water and leaned on a palm tree as he gazed out across the desert. Isaac followed suit and did the same.

"I guess it's really not so far," Roy thought aloud, "We might need another oasis or two on the way, but we can make it."

"Yeah, no doubt," acknowledged Isaac spiritedly with a grin, "we are _us _after all."

Isaac, shaking the water off his sword, stepped resolutely out of the shade and back into the sun's sweltering domain. Roy began to do the same, but turned around for one last look at the water, and then something blue caught his eye at the rock formation.

"Isaac, hold up," Roy called curiously, and Isaac stopped in his tracks and turned around, "There's something over there by that rock. Let's check it out before we go."

With a shrug, Isaac followed Roy over to the rock formation, and the two of them searched it over for the thing Roy saw.

"Roy, man, there's nothing he— Whoa!" Isaac began as he was cut off by a small blue creature that jumped out at him. "It's a Mercury Djinn, sweet!"

The small blue creature was about a foot and a half high, and had several pointed spines on his head, a pale green belly, and a tail that looked like a pinkish crab claw. It was energetic and jumped around Isaac bouncily.

"Dude, um, what the heck is that thing?" Roy inquired with a thoroughly confused look on his face. The Mercury Djinn spat a jet of water in his face, and almost knocked him to the ground.

"Haha, it's a Mercury Djinn. I told you about Mt. Aleph right?" Isaac responded happily, as the little Djinn rolled around on his shoulders, "Well this one of the small creatures that were released from Sol Sanctum after the storm. I've got about nine of them on me right now, those ones are Venus Djinni; earth elementals. This one is Mercury; water elemental. Anyway, this little guy looks like he wants to help us get across the desert, which is good, because we sure could use his help!"

Roy nodded in understanding, "Oh I see, that's great!" he said with a wide grin, "Hey little guy, sorry I called you a thing, forgive me?"

The Mercury Djinn bounced onto Roy's shoulders and rubbed against the back of his head. It sprinkled a tiny shower of water droplets on the both of them. Roy laughed and applauded the little creature.

"So little guy, you got a name?" Roy asked kindly, and he picked it up and held it in his hands. "I can't call you 'little guy' forever."

"Heck yeah, guy," the Mercury Djinni said boldly, slapping itself on the chest with its tail as it spoke, "The name's Oasis!"

"Cool," said Isaac, "Listen Roy, is it okay if Oasis rides with you, I can't carry him without disrupting my skill set. Mixing Djinn gives Adepts, people like me, different powers. I've got all Venus right now, and those abilities will probably come in useful."

"Yeah, no worries," Roy said with a smile, "Oasis and me are pals, right man?"

"You know it, guy," Oasis said coolly with a pose, "I could give you some mad skills though, Adept, you sure about this?"

"Yeah, I'm sure, but we might need your help with that later though, so I'll be counting on you then, okay?" Isaac responded gently, patting Oasis on the head as he spoke.

"Heck yeah, I'll be ready, just say the word and I'm there. Oasis always got your back!"

"Alright," announced Roy, "I think it's time we got going, hang on Oasis, we're gonna need your water skills to keep us cool out there. Let's go guys!"

Roy took the first step forward out into the searing heat of the relentless sun and Isaac followed just a step behind him. With Oasis on their side traversing the blazing desert would be much easier, and they should reach their destination in no time. With courage in their hearts, and concern in their minds, they pressed forth into the rolling dunes.

Back at the coliseum, Princess Zelda strolled amiably about the lobby, strawberry ice cream in hand, she was ready for anything. She stepped out the gates and beheld the expansive fields before her; there were fighters everywhere. Fighters with swords, fighters with axes and lances, fighters with guns, and even some monstrously shaped ones. To her left she saw a small army of small, brown, mushroom-like things yelling 'Kill the Green-stache!' To her right she saw a large turtle-like creature with a spiked shell arguing with a man in red overalls. In front of her though, she the single cutest thing she had ever beheld, cuter even than her beloved Link.

Giddily she ran over to the tree beneath which it was sitting. Though it appeared to be sleeping, Zelda snatched it up and began stroking it.

"Jiggly!" is squealed loudly as it struggled for freedom, "Puff, puff! Jigglypuff!"

Zelda squealed a high pitch tone and clutched Jigglypuff tightly. The small, pink, Pokemon though was in no mood to be glomped. With a loud 'puff!' it pounded her right in the face, and rolled off towards the coliseum.

"Nooo!" screamed Zelda in horror, "My puffy thing!"

Dashing as past as she could, she raced to catch up to it. As soon as she stepped back inside the coliseum, she saw Jigglypuff standing in front of her, and it had a friend.

"Puff!" it ordered martially to the large ape standing in front of it, "Jiggly… puff!

"Oooh… Banana…" the large brown ape drooled as it grabbed Zelda.

"Kyaaa! Let me go you hairy ape!" she yelled loudly, "You smell like bananas and feces!"

Jigglypuff laughed evilly—if that is even possible—and rolled away ominously towards the ice cream stand. Zelda though, was completely helpless in the ape's grasps. The great ape stepped outside the coliseum walls, and stared off into the distance.

"Donkey Kong!" he said proudly as he beat his chest with his left hand, and then he hurled Zelda as far as he could.

"Ahhhhhh!" she screamed maddeningly as she soared through the air. After several long seconds, she crashed down onto some poor blue-haired warrior and his red-haired friend.

Pulling herself to her feet, Zelda beheld the two gorgeous men beneath her, and with a low, sly, laugh she helped them to their feet.

"Well, aren't you two manly," she gushed shamelessly, "What are your names?"

According to them, their names were General Ike and Lord Eliwood. The two men wore confused and slightly disturbed expressions as they regarded the giddy princess before them.

"Heh heh…" he laughed to herself, "Well, I am the gorgeous Princess Zelda of Hyrule, and you guys are almost as hot as Link…"

Ike and Eliwood exchanged bewildered stares, and then decided to run for sake of their sanity. With an evil laugh that shook her body, Zelda raced after them, determined to have something either cute or hot to obsess over.


End file.
